middle east daily bulletin · sayfa 1 middle east daily bulletin 27 august 2012 no: 1446 1....
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Sayfa 1
MIDDLE EAST DAILY BULLETIN 27 AUGUST 2012
NO: 1446 1. IRAQ ..................................................................................................................................... 4
Maliki, Nujaifi stress cooperation and reforms ............................................................................4
During his meeting with Nujaifi, Maliki confirms the need to make progress on the reform in accordance with the Constitution ........................................................................................................4
Iraqiya MP confirms that the meeting between Maliki and Nujaifi was" positive and transparent" .........................................................................................................................................5
Alwani urges for comprehensive reforms ....................................................................................5
Karbala calls to host next Cabinet's session .................................................................................6
Minister of Telecommunications denies submitting his resignation to Maliki ............................6
Parliament to resume sessions next Tuesday ..............................................................................7
Iraq's Kurdistan Regions denies reports about imminent return Al-Hashimi ..............................7
Warning against terrorists' penetration into security organs, Ahrar bloc ...................................7
Detainee passed away in Nineveh Anti-Terrorism Department ..................................................8
Integrity Committee: Maliki's advisors involved in corruption issues .........................................8
Iraqi premier's attendance at NAM summit in Tehran to be confirmed .....................................9
Nijad invites Maliki to attend NAS Summit ..................................................................................9
Call to regional countries to benefit from Iraqi experience, Mutlaq ........................................ 10
Iraqis returning from Syria exceeds 26,000............................................................................... 10
Al-Hakim calls for more efforts and measures to help the Syrian refugees in Iraq .................. 11
Iraqi official says army entrusted with securing Syria border crossing ..................................... 11
Iraq keen on bolstering military capabilities with US - PM ....................................................... 12
Advisor of Iranian President arrives in Baghdad ....................................................................... 13
Turks demand balanced policy with Iraq .................................................................................. 13
Istanbul to host conference on Iraq’s energy sector................................................................. 14
Iraqi energy forum in Istanbul next month ............................................................................... 14
PKK will not leave lands waiting for the "Great Revolution", spokesman ................................ 15
400 Iraqi refugees deported to remote islands in Australia and Thailand ................................ 16
Nujaifi leaves for London to support Iraqi Para-Olympiad team .............................................. 16
Iraq attacks kill 10 people .......................................................................................................... 17
Nine Iraqis killed, 12 injured in violent attacks in Baghdad ...................................................... 17
3 soldiers killed, 2 wounded by bomb blast east Fallujah ......................................................... 18
Three guards of Security Company killed in Baghdad ............................................................... 18
Cleric gravely injured in Baghdad .............................................................................................. 19
Night curfew resumed in Karbala .............................................................................................. 19
Iraq pipeline delays threaten Shell's Majnoon output .............................................................. 19
Baghdad Mayorship launches bid to conduct cleaning works for 3 Municipalities .................. 20
We accepted 17% of Iraqi budget as a sign of leniency until election, says Falah Mustafa ..... 20
Ministry of Oil denies rumours of distributing dates as Eid al-Fitr rewards in South Gas Co ... 21 2. IRAN .................................................................................................................................... 22
Iran opposes foreign meddling in regional affairs, calls for dialog ........................................... 22
Sayfa 2
Global peace, security must be NAM priorities: Namibia ......................................................... 23
Iran FM meets with N Korean counterpart ............................................................................... 24
Senior MP Downplays Impacts of Oil Sanctions on Iran's Forex Revenues ............................... 25
Iran's Non-Oil Trade Exceeds $37.6bln in 5 Months ................................................................. 26
EC Secretary: NAM Summit to Defuse Sanctions against Iran .................................................. 27
UN Chief to Visit Iran's Enrichment Facility This Week ............................................................. 28
Iran, India to hold meeting on access to landlocked Afghanistan ............................................ 29 3. ISRAEL - PALESTINE .............................................................................................................. 29
Israel closes key Jerusalem checkpoint, limiting Palestinian residents' access to city ............. 29
C'tee okays PM portfolio changes amid war rumors ................................................................ 32
Police nab 3 youths for firebombing Palestinian taxi ................................................................ 34
'Welcome to Palestine' group denied entry into West Bank .................................................... 35
Report: Fayyad seeks advice from Bank of Israel governor ...................................................... 37
Water Authority Condemns Israeli Demolition of Wells ........................................................... 37 4. AFRICA and EGYPT ............................................................................................................... 38
First crack in Libya National Congress: Interior minister resigns .............................................. 38
Morsi’s Egypt: ‘Revolution’ fails to break wave of self-immolations ........................................ 40
Salafists continue march on Libya religious monuments: Government condemns .................. 41
Tunisian Minister Launches National Dialogue on Transitional Justice .................................... 43
Tunisia draft constitution marred by setbacks .......................................................................... 44
Algerian imams engage militants in dialogue............................................................................ 46
Brotherhood official hopes new bill will legitimize group ......................................................... 48 5. JORDAN and LEBANON ......................................................................................................... 49
By order of Israel: Jordan bars activists from crossing into West Bank .................................... 49
Berri’s desperate attempts ........................................................................................................ 51
Netanyahu: Israel will strike Lebanon in case of Hezbollah provocation .................................. 54 6. SYRIA ................................................................................................................................... 54
Helicopter crashes in Damascus amid reports of fierce fighting............................................... 54
Syrian VP’s appearance in public ends defection rumours ....................................................... 58
More bodies found in Syria “massacre” site, watchdog says.................................................... 59
Syria top officials to attend NAM summit in Iran ...................................................................... 60 7. ARABIAN PENINSULA AND THE GULF OF BASRA .................................................................... 60
Bahrain Shiites respond to talks offer with petrol bombs ........................................................ 60
Saudi authorities foil 'terror' plot: Two extremist cells busted ................................................. 62
Concern as UAE “halts” Bangladesh recruitment...................................................................... 63
Saudi oil giant fixes network after cyber-attack ........................................................................ 64
Saudi foils “terror” plot, busts two cells .................................................................................... 65 8. AFGHANISTAN - PAKISTAN ................................................................................................... 66
US-led tanker attacked in Northern Afghanistan ...................................................................... 66
Afghan lawmakers urge an end to US assassination drone strikes ........................................... 67
Afghan political leaders stres transparency in elections process ............................................. 68
US, allies play dirty tricks to avoid defeat in Afghan war: Analyst ............................................ 70
Sayfa 3
Sayfa 4
1. IRAQ
Maliki, Nujaifi stress cooperation and reforms
BAGHDAD, Aug 26 / Aswat al-Iraq:
Premier Nouri al-Maliki stressed today,
during his meeting with Parliament
Speaker Usama Nujaifi, the importance of
cooperation between the executive and
legislative authorities, necessity to deal
with the issues according to the
constitution and end all disputes on oil
contracts.
In a statement by the Premiership
presidency, copy received by Aswat al-
Iraq, both sides confirmed that the
constitution should be the base in dealing
with different issues.
Maliki stressed "necessity of dialogue to
end crises, particularly Oil and Gas Law,
General Amnesty Law, Questioning and
Justice issues and re-building the state.
Both sides agreed to end the disputes on
oil contracts and investments, pointing
necessity to enhance Iraqi military
abilities, including the F16 fighters, due to
be received next March.
Nujaifi elaborated necessity of enhancing
the internal situation, terminating all
pending questions and complete the
reforms according to the constitution, as
reported by the statement.
Aswat al-Iraq
During his meeting with Nujaifi, Maliki confirms the need to make progress on the reform in accordance with the Constitution
BAGHDAD, Aug 26 / NINA / the Office of
the Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
announced that the meeting between al-
Maliki and the President of the House of
Representatives Osama Nujaifi stressed
"the importance of cooperation between
the executive and legislative branches to
serve the interests of the people, and the
Constitution is the authority in dealing
with all things."
A statement of the Office quoting the
Prime Minister as reaffirming "the need to
make progress on the reforms and
address the issues in accordance with the
Constitution, especially the oil and gas law
and the general amnesty as well as the
accountability and justice, and move
towards the state-building."
Sayfa 5
He stressed "the need to end all
differences over the oil contracts and
investments in the field of oil," adding that
" Iraq's seek to develop its military
capabilities and defense, including F-16
aircraft, which Iraq is supposed to receive
first portion in March next year."
For his part, President of the House of
Representatives confirmed "the
importance of the internal situation, and
resolve all outstanding problems, as well
as conduct the reforms in accordance with
the Constitution and to serve all parties,
and in the interest of the Iraqi people".
NINA
Iraqiya MP confirms that the meeting between Maliki and Nujaifi was" positive and transparent"
Baghdad, Aug 26 / NINA/ MP, of the
Iraqiya List, Mohammed al-Khalidi
confirmed that the meeting between
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and
parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi was
"positive and transparent."
He said in a statement to the National
Iraqi News agency / NINA / that "The two
sides agreed, during the meeting today, to
unite the political discourse towards
regional and international issues,
especially the Syrian crisis, in addition to
addressing the relationship between the
legislative and executive branches."
He added "The meeting lasted for two
hours and it was agreed to wait in the
subject of those who were covered by the
law of accountability and justice in Baiji
refinery and the two sides also agreed to
form a committee to implement the
decision of the amnesty in addition to
discuss the political situation in general."
NINA
Alwani urges for comprehensive reforms
Baghdad, Aug 26 (AIN) –The Iraqiya Slate’s
MP Khalid al-Alwani assured that “Iraqis
need comprehensive reforms on different
aspects of life rather than special reforms
to suit certain bloc of figure,” describing
the reforms submitted by the Iraqi
National Alliance as worthless.”
In a statement to All Iraq News Agency, he
said “The investigation issue, whether
connected to Premier Maliki or others, is
necessary to discuss the pending issues
Sayfa 6
which hurdle the political process as well
as security situation,” holding “The
premier Nouri al-Maliki responsible for the
recent security deterioration since he is
the Commanding General of the Iraqi
Security Forces.”
Alwani of Anbar province clarified that
“The investigation issue is postponed to
wait for reforms promised by the INA,”
stressing that “Investigation process is
constitutional right.”
alliraqnews
Karbala calls to host next Cabinet's session
Karbala, Aug 26 (AIN) -The Provincial
Council of Karbala province submitted a
request to hold the next session of the
Council of Ministers in Karbala to discuss
the situation in the province.
The Deputy Chairman of Karbala PC,
Nusaiyf Jasim, stated to AIN "The
Provincial Council of Karbala plans to
submit a request on early September to
demand for holding the next session of
the CoM in Karbala to discuss a number of
issues, most notably, the financial
allocations for the province and the topic
of approving Karbala as a Cultural Capital
for Iraq in 2015."
"It is also scheduled to tackle the project
of establishing the electronic security
system in the province in order to secure
the millions of pilgrims who arrive in the
province every year," Jasim added.
http://www.alliraqnews.com/en/index.ph
p?option=com_content&view=article&id=
17145:karbala-calls-to-be-next-province-
in-holding-next-cabinets-
session&catid=39:genral-news&Itemid=48
Minister of Telecommunications denies submitting his resignation to Maliki
Baghdad, Aug 26 (AIN) –The Minister of
Telecommunications, Mohamed Tawfiq
Allawi, denied the reports over
"submitting his resignation to the Premier,
Nouri al-Maliki."
He assured in a press statement that
"These reports mentioned by the media
outlets in this regard are groundless."
"I have submitted a request for Maliki a
month ago in which there were specific
Sayfa 7
demands," he added without clarifying
these demands.
"The Ministry of Telecommunications is a
technical ministry that could not be
involved in the political disputes," he
stressed.
http://www.alliraqnews.com/en/index.ph
p?option=com_content&view=article&id=
17168:minister-of-telecommunications-
denies-submitting-his-resignation-to-
maliki&catid=35:political&Itemid=2
Parliament to resume sessions next Tuesday
Baghdad, Aug 26 (AIN) –The Parliament
will hold its first session within the current
legislative term after the end of the Eid al-
Fitr vacation.
A statement by the media office of the
Parliament received by AIN cited “The
schedule of the session includes the first
and second readings for several law
drafts.”
The schedule of the session is empty of
the law drafts which were not settled
before the recess, such as the General
Amnesty law draft, Supreme Human
Rights Commission as well as extending
the term of the Independent High
Electoral Commission.
alliraqnews
Iraq's Kurdistan Regions denies reports about imminent return Al-Hashimi
26 Aug 2012
The Kurdistan Regional Government has
denied reports on the imminent return of
Tariq al-Hashimi to the region. Falah
Mustafa, head of the KRG's Foreign
Relations Department, told the IMN's
news centre that his government has not
received yet any request from Al-Hashimi
to come to the Kurdistan Region.
Al-Iraqiyah TV
Warning against terrorists' penetration into security organs, Ahrar bloc
BAGHDAD, Aug 26 / Aswat al-Iraq: Ahrar
bloc MP Jalial al-Sa'idi warned against
terrorists' penetration into the security
organs, pointing that "no mistakes should
occur".
Sayfa 8
In a statement by her office, she
denounced the Friday's terrorist actions.
On the other hand, she advised the
security organs for more vigilance.
Friday's explosion resulted in three killings
and wounding 11 in an attempt against
the offices of the Sadrist Trend during the
prayers time.
Aswat al-Iraq
Detainee passed away in Nineveh Anti-Terrorism Department
Nineveh, Mosul, Aug 26 (AIN) –A detainee
in the prison of Anti-Terrorism
Department died for natural reasons in
Nineveh province.
A medical source in Nineveh Health
Department reported to AIN that ''The
morgue department received a corpse
belongs to a detainee who has died inside
the prison of Nineveh Anti-Terrorism
Department.''
The source added "After examining the
corpse, we discovered that the detainee
died for natural reasons.''
The source pointed out that ''The medical
and forensic examinations did not
discover any torture signs on the corpse,"
attributing the cause of death to diseases.
alliraqnews
Integrity Committee: Maliki's advisors involved in corruption issues
Baghdad, Aug 26 (AIN) –The Member of
the Parliamentary Integrity Committee
MPAziz al-Eqaili, of the Citizen bloc,
expected the increase of the
administrative and financial corruption in
the governmental institutions in the next
period, attributing that to the "Wrong
governmental method of fighting
corruption in addition to the involvement
of close officials to the Prime Minister,
Nouri al-Maliki, in corruption issues."
Speaking to All Iraq News Agency (AIN), he
stated "There is a defect in the procedures
of fighting corruption in Maliki's office and
by not giving complete authorities to the
observatory committees in addition to the
involvement of Maliki's advisors in the
corruption issues."
Sayfa 9
"Maliki's advisor, Ahmed al-Sa'adawi,
purchased Canadian airplanes and he is
involved in corruption issues due to the
high prices that are more than the real
prices in millions of USD where he
received four of them and two are not
delivered yet," he added, noting that "The
price of each airplane is more than the
real price in 10 -15 Millions USD where
some other officials such as Ahmed Eiz
and Ezzat al-Shabandar, who is involved in
forming faked companies in the Ministry
of Electricity."
"When the Parliamentary Integrity
Committee set a certain law, the
Secretariat-General of the Council of
Ministers postponed it where there is an
intention to assign the head of the
Integrity Committee by Maliki which
means that this is not neutral issue," he
pointed out.
http://www.alliraqnews.com/en/index.ph
p?option=com_content&view=article&id=
17143:integrity-committee-malikis-
advisors-involved-in-corruption-issues-
&catid=35:political&Itemid=2
Iraqi premier's attendance at NAM summit in Tehran to be confirmed
Source: Mehr news agency, Tehran, in
Persian 26 Aug 12
President Ahmadinezhad's advisor, Hojjat
ol-Eslam Seyyed Ahmad Musavi, has
travelled to Iraq to deliver
Ahmadinezhad's formal invitation to the
Iraqi premier to attend the NAM summit,
Hasan Dana'ifar, the Iranian envoy in Iraq
told Mehr News Agency.
The definite attendance of Nuri al-Maliki,
the Iraqi premier, at the NAM summit will
be confirmed tomorrow (27 August), Mehr
reported.
Mehr news agency
Nijad invites Maliki to attend NAS Summit
Aug 26 (AIN) –Iranian media sources
confirmed that the Advisor of the Iranian
President for Hajj Affairs, Sayed Ahmed
Musawi, visited Iraq on Sunday to deliver
an official invitation for the Iraqi Prime
Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, to attend the
Non-Aligned States’ Summit.
The Iranian Mehr News Agency quoted
the Iranian Ambassador to Iraq, Hasan
Danaefer as saying “Sayed Ahmed Musawi
arrived in Baghdad on Sunday to deliver
Sayfa 10
the invitation of Nijad for Maliki to attend
the Summit to be held in Tehran.”
Danaefer added “Participation of the Iraqi
PM in the Summit will be decided on
Monday.”
alliraqnews
Call to regional countries to benefit from Iraqi experience, Mutlaq
BAGHDAD, Aug 26 / Aswat al-Iraq: Deputy
Premier Saleh al-Mutlaq called
neighboring countries not to follow
denominational ideas and the division of
the peoples on national, religious and
sectarian bases, advising them to benefit
from the Iraqi experiment in these fields.
In a statement issued by his office, today,
he pointed out that the region is passing
through acute conditions due to the
changes that occurred.
"There are some people who try to incite
tensions and denominational wars in the
region", he confirmed.
He warned internal element not to ignite
denominational conflicts, stressing that
security and peace cannot be achieved
with real dialogues.
Aswat al-Iraq
Iraqis returning from Syria exceeds 26,000
ERBIL, Aug. 26 (AKnews) - The Iraqi
Immigration Ministry stated Sunday that
the number of Iraqis who have returned
from Syria after the escalation of violence
has reached more than 26,000 people.
Iraq formed an emergency cell in
cooperation with the Office of the High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and
the Iraqi Red Cross Society to receive and
facilitate the return of Iraqis from Syria.
The cell is also responsible for facilitating
the reception of Syrian refugees.
The ministry quoted on its website the
Immigration Minister Dindar Dosky as
saying that during the meeting with the
special representative of the United
Nations in Iraq, Martin Kobler, the country
witnessed the return of more than 26,000
Iraqis from Syria.
He added that Iraq intends to construct a
third camp for the Syrian refugees with
accommodate 500 tents.
Sayfa 11
Kobler called on the international
community to help Iraq in providing for
the needs of Syrian refugees through
payments to the Iraqi Immigration
Ministry.
AKnews
Al-Hakim calls for more efforts and measures to help the Syrian refugees in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Aug 26 / NINA / the head of
the Islamic Supreme Council, Ammar al-
Hakim called to make more efforts and
actions to help the Syrian refugees in Iraq.
He stressed, during a meeting with a
number of academics and the Iraqi elite
yesterday, the need to deal in
humanitarian and brotherly manner with
the Syrian refugees, pointing to the
importance of applying security measures
that provide the safety of the Iraqi people
from the dangers that may threaten the
security and stability, according to a
statement of the Supreme Council today.
Al-Hakim called on the international
community to hold its responsibilities in
helping the Syrian people and provide the
necessary services to them, asserting the
"cohesion and the national unity in front
of all potential future dangers."
NINA
Iraqi official says army entrusted with securing Syria border crossing
Source: Al-Hayat website, London, in
Arabic 26 Aug 12
[Report by Umar Sattar, from Baghdad:
"The Iraqi army takes over the border
crossing points with Syria"]
The Iraqi Interior Ministry has announced
that the border crossing points with Syria
are now entrusted to the army rather than
the police. The Interior Ministry considers
this to "a temporary precautionary
measure because of the extraordinary
situation witnessed at the Syrian side of
the borders."
The Ministry of Defence ordered the
deployment of army brigades to the
borders two months ago.
Lt-Gen Ahmad al-Khafaji, Interior Ministry
undersecretary for federal security affairs,
in a statement to Al-Hayat stresses: "The
Sayfa 12
borders with Syria have been brought
under the control of the army forces since
two months ago, and not just now, as a
temporary precautionary measure
because of the clashes and major
displacement situation witnessed at these
borders."
Al-Khafaji adds: "The command at these
borders is undertaken by the Defence
Ministry, the same as in all the regions of
the country in which there is a joint
command of the operations. The role of
the Interior Ministry will be restricted to
the protection of the security of the Syrian
refugees when they enter the Iraqi
territories, and the coordination with the
Ministry of Migration and Migrants."
Al-Khafaji explains that the Ministry of
Defence has established a "command
centre" at the borders, which extend for
approximately 605 km; the command
centre is similar to the commands of the
joint operations in the governorates."
Al-Khafaji points out: "The security forces
have reopened the Al-Qa'im crossing
points to receive the Syrian refugees."
Al-Khafaji continues: "The border situation
on the Iraqi side is completely calm, and
the crossing points are operating well,
except the Abu-Kamal border crossing,
which has been closed for a few days."
Al-Hayat website
Iraq keen on bolstering military capabilities with US - PM
BAGHDAD, Aug 26 (KUNA) -- Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said on Sunday
that his country was keen to develop its
military defensive capabilities, including to
purchase the US-made (F-16) fighter jets,
calling at the same time an end all internal
disputes over oil investments.
According to Iraqi government statement,
the remarks by Al-Maliki came during his
meeting with Iraqi Parliament Speaker
Osama Al-Nujaifi, noting that the Prime
Minister also denied that the government
was planning to bring foreign forces into
the country, but only keen on boosting its
military capabilities.
The Iraqi premier added that he called on
all parties to end all disputes concerning
oil contracts and investment, and the
importance of speeding up the process in
Sayfa 13
the parliament to approve laws needed
which would not undermine security of
Iraq.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.as
px?id=2259224&language=en
Advisor of Iranian President arrives in Baghdad
Baghdad, Aug 26 (NINA) – Advisor of Iran's
President and Chairman of Haj
Organization, Ahmed Mosawi, arrived in
Baghdad to deliver an official invitation to
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, to attend
the Non-Allied Summit.
Iranian Mehr News Agency quoted Iran's
Ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Danaei Far,
saying on Sunday, Aug. 26, that Mosawi
arrived in Baghdad to deliver the
invitation of Iran's President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad to Prime Minister Nuri al-
Maliki to attend the Non-Allied Summit to
be held in Tehran.
Official sources said that it is probably that
Vice President Khudayer al-Khuza'e will
head Iraq's delegation to the Non-Allied
Summit due to be held in Tehran at the
end of the current month.
The source expects that Maliki will head
Iraq's delegation to the UN General
Assembly scheduled for early next month.
NINA
Turks demand balanced policy with Iraq
BAGHDAD, Aug 26 / Aswat al-Iraq: Turkish
analysts warned against pro-policies for
internal conflicts in Iraq, advised a
balanced policy with all parties and
minimize tensions with central
government of Baghdad.
Turkish Sunday Zaman published results of
opinions on the reasons of Iraqi-Turkish
disputes related to Syria, Kurdish region
and the visit of Turkish foreign minister to
Kirkuk.
Analysts described Turkish policy was due
to the stands adopted by Premier Nouri al-
Maliki on unilateral rule of the country
and neglecting the Sunni sect and the
Kurds, as well as Turkish support to Iraqi
vice-president Tariq al-Hashimi.
Sayfa 14
They advised the Turkish government to
have balanced stands with all Iraqi
political parties.
Aswat al-Iraq
Istanbul to host conference on Iraq’s energy sector
ISTANBUL, Aug 27: Returning for its third
annual meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, ‘Iraq
Future Energy 2012’ will bring together
Government officials and representatives
from International Oil Companies (IOCs),
to collaborate on how to build a successful
and lucrative energy sector in Iraq.
Organised by the Energy Exchange, Iraq
Future Energy 2012 will be held from 17 -
20 September 2012. Day one of the
conference will commence with a focus on
the growing need for electricity in Iraq. At
present, an estimated 8,000 Mega Watts
(MW) of electricity is being produced,
when in fact an estimated 14,000 MW is
needed.
In 2011, Iraq announced its electricity
master plan of spending $27 billion from
2012 to 2017. The latest update on the
implementation progress of the short
term plan to rehabilitate and expand the
national grid by 2015 will be unveiled at
this Electricity Summit. Additionally,
infrastructure challenges with regards to
power generation as well as imports and
exports with neighbouring countries will
be discussed, along with feasible
alternatives and solutions.
The main oil and gas conference begins on
day two of Iraq Future Energy 2012 and
will open detailing further E&P plans and
upcoming bid round and its impact on the
Iraqi oil, gas and power sub-sectors.
Furthermore the outcome of the fourth
bid round for 12 exploration blocks in April
2012 along with the implications for pre-
qualified IOCs and future projects will be
discussed.
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/1e995590-
9d5b-4c5f-b213-95e64a5f533d.aspx
Iraqi energy forum in Istanbul next month
ISTANBUL, Aug 26 / Aswat al-Iraq: Turkish
company announced that an Iraqi energy
forum shall be held to discuss the energy
question in Iraq.
Sayfa 15
The forum shall be attended by local and
international experts from different major
oil and electricity companies.
This is the third annual forum to be held in
Istanbul, Turkey (17-20 September, 2012).
The first day will tackle the increasing
need for electricity in Iraq, which produces
now 8000 megawatts, while the real need,
for time being, is 14,000 megawatts,
It was announced in 2011 that Iraq
allocated $27 billion during 2012-2017.
The oil and gas questions shall be tackled
in the second day of the forum to discuss
all details on excavation and production
and their effects on Iraqi economic
branches.
Iraq made a target to reach 12 million b/d
productions by 2017, but the lack of the
infrastructure will impede such target.
http://en.aswataliraq.info/%28S%28yhn0e
afhoqefo4ntlen0q0nj%29%29/Default1.as
px?page=article_page&id=150157&l=1
PKK will not leave lands waiting for the "Great Revolution", spokesman
ARBIL, Aug 26/ Aswat al-Iraq: Anti-Turkish
PKK party announced today that the
Turkish tactics depend on air and artillery
strikes, thus its fighters will not leave their
lands waiting for the "Great Revolution".
PKK spokesman Ahmet Deniz told Aswat
al-Iraq that the clashes with the Turkish
army continued, but they are "unable for
land combat, but depended on air and
artillery bombardments".
He added that the PKK strategy "has
changed by not leaving the controlled
land, as they did before".
Deniz confirmed that the PKK got mss
support particularly in bigger cities with
Kurdish majority, waiting for "the Great
Revolution of the Masses", as he
described it.
He denied any Iranian support and did not
extend any to the Syrian, stressing that his
party "fights for freedom, democracy and
independence".
"We will not stop this war, because the
Turkish government rejected the dialogue
with us", he elaborated.
Sayfa 16
PKK administrative source revealed that
clashes took place in near Kurdistan areas
that resulted in 20 Turkish casualties,
while two PKK fighters were killed.
http://en.aswataliraq.info/%28S%28yhn0e
afhoqefo4ntlen0q0nj%29%29/Default1.as
px?page=article_page&id=150164&l=1
400 Iraqi refugees deported to remote islands in Australia and Thailand
ERBIL, Aug. 26 (AKnews) - An official at the
Iraqi Refugees Union office in the
Kurdistan Region stated Sunday that
authorities in Australia and Thailand
decided to deport about 2,000 refugees,
including about 400 Iraqis, to remote
areas, adding that the motives behind the
decision by the two countries are still
unknown.
Amanj Abdullah said: "The steps taken by
Australia and Thailand may have been
taken to avoid criticism against the
countries that forcibly deport refugees by
active international organizations in
defending the refugees in the world."
According to the Iraqi Refugees Union,
about 100,000 Iraqi refugees are living in
several European countries. Some 95
percent of them are Kurdish citizens and
face the threat of being deported forcibly
to their countries.
AKnews
Nujaifi leaves for London to support Iraqi Para-Olympiad team
BAGHDAD, Aug 26 / Aswat al-Iraq:
Parliament speaker Usama Nujaifi will
leave for London to attend the opening
ceremony of Para-Olympiad games and to
support Iraqi handicapped sports
delegation.
In a statement by his office, today, Nujaifi
wants to support Iraqi sports, particularly
national Para-Olympiad teams.
Today, the Iraqi flag will be raised in the
Para-Olympiad village, which expected to
host 4200 participants, representing 170
countries.
The games shall be held from 27 August to
10 September next.
Aswat al-Iraq
Sayfa 17
Iraq attacks kill 10 people
BAGHDAD, Aug 26 — A series of attacks in
and around Baghdad and in north Iraq on
Sunday killed 10 people, including three
soldiers and two policemen, security and
medical officials said.
The gun and bomb attacks took to 256 the
number of people killed nationwide so far
this month, according to an AFP tally,
already equal to the comparable figure
from July.
In Baghdad, five people were shot dead
and two wounded in three separate
attacks, officials said.
Gunmen armed with silencer-equipped
pistols shot dead three security guards in
Baghdad's eastern district of Zayouna, an
interior ministry official and a medic at the
capital's Al-Kindi Hospital said.
Another shooting in Urr, a neighbourhood
in north Baghdad, left two policemen
dead and another wounded, the interior
ministry official and a doctor at nearby
Imam Ali Hospital said.
A gun attack at Al-Wathak intersection in
the centre of the capital, meanwhile, left a
sheikh wounded, medical sources said.
Just west of the capital, three soldiers
were killed and two others were wounded
by two roadside bombs that detonated as
they patrolled nearby, Lieutenant Colonel
Mohammed Jerefi said.
Doctor Hamed Tafesh from Fallujah
hospital confirmed the toll from the attack
in the town of Garma in Anbar province.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/
article/ALeqM5hUI_WB65AHZBeEpXatH-
9A8UaA2Q?docId=CNG.8c8ef080333bd39
d9be84f7ee366b0ea.8e1
Nine Iraqis killed, 12 injured in violent attacks in Baghdad
KUWAIT, Aug 26 (KUNA) -- Nine Iraqis
were killed and 12 others were injured in
separate violent clashes that took place in
various districts of the Iraqi capital, a
police source said on Sunday.
The source told KUNA that unknown
armed men attacked a building, owned by
a security service company, in Zeytouna
district in east Baghdad by using silencers
Sayfa 18
weapons killing as a result three security
guards.
In Orr district, north Baghdad, three
policemen were shot dead by unknown
insurgents who drove a civilian vehicle and
used silencers in their attack, the source
said, adding that four other policemen
were injured in the attack by the
insurgents, who fled to an unknown site.
In Fallujah, east Iraq, four policemen were
injured by a roadside bomb that targeted
their patrol, the source pointed out,
noting that three Iraqi military personnel
were killed while another two were
injured in a double roadside bomb blast
that targeted their patrol in Korma
district, east Fallujah.
KUNA
3 soldiers killed, 2 wounded by bomb blast east Fallujah
ANBAR, Aug 26 / Aswat al-Iraq: Police
sources said here today that three soldiers
were killed and two wounded by a bomb
blast against their patrol east of Fallujah.
The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the
bomb was laid on the side of the road.
Precautionary measures were taken, but
no extra details were given.
Fallujah lies 60 km west of Ramadi city,
center of Anbar province, 110 km west of
the capital, Baghdad.
Aswat al-Iraq
Three guards of Security Company killed in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Aug 26 / NINA / three guards
for a security company were killed by
gunmen in eastern Baghdad today.
A source in the police told / NINA / that
"unidentified gunmen, with silencers
weapons, attacked the security company -
based in Zayouna area east of Baghdad.
He explained that the attack led to the
death of three guards of the company and
the gunmen fled.
The source added that "other gunmen
attacked; with silencers a man dressed
clergy named Fadel Abdul Zahra, in
Wathiq Square of Karrada in central
Baghdad, wounding him.
Sayfa 19
In a third incident the source noted that "
an adhesive bomb went off on a civilian
car in the district of Mahmudiya / 30/ km
south of Baghdad, injuring the driver and
damaging his car.
NINA
Cleric gravely injured in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Aug 26 / Aswat al-Iraq: A cleric
was gravely injured by silencer weapons
mid of Baghdad, according to police
sources.
The source told Aswat al-Iraq that
"unknown gunmen shot Sheikh Fadhil
Abdul Zahra before fleeing the crime
scene".
Prompt investigations were made, but no
further details were given.
Aswat al-Iraq
Night curfew resumed in Karbala
Karbala, Aug 26 (AIN) –The Police
Department of Karbala province declared
that it will resume imposing the night
curfew which will start from one o'clock
after midnight until five o'clock at dawn.
Media Director of Karbala Police
Department, Colonel Ahmed Mohamed,
stated to AIN that ''The police department
in Karbala province decided to resume
imposing night curfew all over Karbala
province which will start from one o'clock
after midnight until five o'clock at dawn,"
noting that "The curfew was lifted during
the holy month of Ramadan.''
Karbala Provincial Council declared, on
last July 20, to left the night curfew to
enable people perform their rituals and
prayers during the holy month of
Ramadan.
alliraqnews
Iraq pipeline delays threaten Shell's Majnoon output
LONDON, Aug 26: Delays in Iraq's pipeline
construction threaten to stall production
at Royal Dutch Shell's Majnoon oilfield for
at least three months, forcing the field to
miss a 2012 target of 175,000 barrels per
day, oil ministry documents showed.
Sayfa 20
Wary of losses, Shell has asked Iraq for a
waiver to start recovering costs if
Majnoon does not meet its first
commercial production target by year-end
- a contract requirement before costs can
be retrieved, according to documents
seen by Reuters.
Shell's troubles illustrate infrastructure
hurdles facing oil operators in the OPEC
nation. Some oil majors have begun
signing deals with Iraq's autonomous
Kurdistan region, which they say offers
more attractive conditions than the
country's federal government in southern
oilfields.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/Int
ernational/2012/Aug-26/185719-iraq-
pipeline-delays-threaten-shells-majnoon-
output.ashx#axzz24gli10DM
Baghdad Mayorship launches bid to conduct cleaning works for 3 Municipalities
Baghdad, Aug 26 (AIN) -The Commission
tasked to choose the companies which will
be entrusted by Baghdad Mayorship to
launch cleaning works for three
municipalities, started activities, on
Sunday, as first implementation for
privatization in Iraq.
A statement by Mayorship quoted the
Municipal Deputy Mayor in the BM, Naem
Abaub, as saying "We declared our
intention to launch a bid for cleaning
three Municipalities where 12 companies
offered to apply for cleaning Rusafa
Municipality, 13 companies for Karada
Municipality and 12 others for Karkh
municipality."
"The Commission was formed to choose
the best (4-6) offers for each municipality
submitted to the Cabinet and after gaining
approvals we will invite them to present
their detailed bids and offers in order to
select one company for every municipal
Directorate," Abaub added.
http://www.alliraqnews.com/en/index.ph
p?option=com_content&view=article&id=
17157:baghdad-mayorship-launches-bid-
to-conduct-cleaning-works-for-3-
municipalities&catid=39:genral-
news&Itemid=48
We accepted 17% of Iraqi budget as a sign of leniency until election, says Falah Mustafa
Sayfa 21
ERBIL, August 26 (AKnews) – The head of
the Kurdistan Regional Government's
department of foreign relations stated
that the region has accepted 17 percent of
the budget as a sign of i gentleness until
the general election will be held in the
country.
In a press conference Falah Mustafa said:
"What we see in Baghdad is
procrastination in finding solutions for
problems. It is just like throwing soil into
the eyes of the people in order to hide the
truth and tell people that Iraq doesn’t
have any problems and only the Kurdistan
Region is a problem in a time when the
Iraqi issue is by far bigger than that.
"The Kurdistan Region deserves more than
17 percent of the Iraqi budget, we
accepted that just to show gentleness
until holding the general election. Despite
his dictatorship mentality, Saddam
Hussein gave between 13 percent to 15
percent of the budget to the region but in
that time the region’s population was less
than today.
"Iraqi officials' statement in Baghdad is
like the population in other parts of Iraq
has been increasing but the population in
the region has gone backwards."
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/32
3150/
Ministry of Oil denies rumours of distributing dates as Eid al-Fitr rewards in South Gas Co
Baghdad, Aug 26 (AIN) -The Ministry of Oil
denied the news which reported that "The
Director General of Southern Gas
Company in Basra province deprived the
employees of the Company from the
financial grants of Eid al-Fitr."
A source in the Ministry cited to AIN
"These reports are groundless and the
Director of the Company granted
according to his authorities IQD 50,000 to
each employee within the Company."
"As for accusing the Director General of
the Company of substituting the financial
reward by dates, we confirm that these
rumours are untrue and the distribution of
dates was just a gift granted along with
the financial bonus," the source added.
Sayfa 22
http://www.alliraqnews.com/en/index.ph
p?option=com_content&view=article&id=
17165:moo-
2. IRAN
Iran opposes foreign meddling in regional affairs, calls for dialog
Foreign intervention and taking advantage
of the wave of instability that has hit our
region is unacceptable.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi
says Tehran opposes foreign interference
in regional affairs, calling for the
resolution of the existing crises through
dialog, Press TV reports.
Speaking at the two-day-long expert-level
meeting of the 16th Summit of the Non-
Aligned Movement (NAM) in the Iranian
capital on Sunday, Salehi stressed that
human rights should not become an
excuse for such interference in the hands
of certain powers, which have a long
record of violating human rights.
“It’s been over a year now that we’re
observing the developments in the Middle
East and North Africa. No power can
ignore the legitimate demands of the
people…we believe that dialog, respecting
human rights, and acknowledging the
basic needs of people is the only way to
overcome challenges that have been
caused by dictatorial regimes,” he said.
“Valid and independent political entities
should enter dialog to pave the way for
national reconciliation in a secure
environment, away from foreign threats
and interference,” the Iranian foreign
minister added.
“Foreign intervention and taking
advantage of the wave of instability that
has hit our region is unacceptable,” Salehi
noted.
During the meeting, senior international
experts are scheduled to hold special
sessions, addressing economic, cultural,
and social issues in order to prepare a
draft document, comprising three
chapters and 688 points. The document is
then to be endorsed by NAM foreign
ministers, who are slated to meet over
Tuesday and Wednesday.
The 16th summit of NAM member states
is held in Tehran from August 26 to 31.
Representatives from more than 100
Sayfa 23
countries have gathered in the Iranian
capital for the event.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will
also participate in the event, during which
the Islamic Republic will assume the
rotating presidency of NAM for three
years.
NAM is an international organization with
120 member states that is not formally
aligned with or against any major power
bloc.
Nearly two-thirds of the United Nations
member states are also NAM members,
making the body the biggest international
organization after the UN General
Assembly.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/26/
258305/iran-urges-dialog-on-regional-
affairs/
Global peace, security must be NAM priorities: Namibia
Namibia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Utoni
Nujoma says the promotion of global
peace and security must top the Non-
Aligned Movement’s (NAM) priorities.
Upon arriving in Iran's capital, Tehran, to
attend the NAM summit on Monday,
Nujoma said the member states should
support the movement in order to protect
the independence and security of
independent states.
More than 100 countries are partaking in
the NAM summit that kicked off in Tehran
on Sunday and is scheduled to end on
August 31.
At the opening ceremony of the NAM
expert-level meeting, Iran assumed the
rotating presidency of the movement for
three years. Egypt's Ambassador to the
United Nations Moataz Khalil formally
handed over the presidency to Iran.
NAM, an international organization with
120 member states, is considered as not
formally aligned with or against any major
power bloc.
Sayfa 24
Referring to Iran's regional and
international position, Nujoma said the
Islamic Republic has had a great influence
on the quest of various nations for
independence.
Meanwhile, Bhutan’s Foreign Minister
Ugyen Tshering, who also arrived in
Tehran on Monday, described NAM as one
of the most important international
bodies, whose influence on global affairs
is only second to the UN.
Tshering said the NAM summit is a good
opportunity to resolve the political and
economic problems of the world.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/27/
258378/global-peace-must-be-nam-
priority/
Iran FM meets with N Korean counterpart
Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has
met with his North Korean counterpart,
Pak Ui-chun on the sidelines of the 16th
Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement
(NAM) in Tehran.
Meeting with the North Korean official on
Sunday, Salehi referred to Iran’s
competence and experience in the fields
of economy, industry, commerce, and
agriculture, and expressed Tehran’s
readiness for the expansion of the
bilateral relations in the areas.
Pointing to the sensitivity, characterizing
the international affairs and the situation
in the region, Pak underlined NAM’s role
in resolving the international issues.
The Iranian foreign minister had earlier
met with his counterparts from Myanmar
and the Comoros.
The 16th summit of NAM member states
is held in the Iranian capital from August
26 to 31. Representatives from more than
100 countries have gathered in Tehran for
the meeting.
Sayfa 25
NAM is an international organization with
120 member states that is not formally
aligned with or against any major power
bloc. Nearly two-thirds of the United
Nations member states are also NAM
members.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/26/
258311/iran-fm-meets-with-n-korean-
counterpart/
Senior MP Downplays Impacts of Oil Sanctions on Iran's Forex Revenues
TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian legislator
played down the effects of sanctions on
the country's foreign currency revenues,
and said the Islamic Republic has found
different ways to increase its revenues,
including boosting its non-oil exports.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has many
solutions for (boosting) foreign currency
revenues, including an increase in non-oil
exports," member of the parliament's
Budget Planning Commission Mousarreza
Servati told FNA on Monday.
He, meantime, said that Iran still
continues its oil sales through different
ways despite sanctions, and mentioned
that the oil revenues predicted in this
year's budget have been materialized.
Many Iranian officials believe that the
West's ban on Iranian oil supplies will help
Iranian economy end its dependence on
oil revenues.
"The sanctions imposed on us have
created an opportunity to prepare the
ground for cutting the connection
between the (country's) budget and oil
(revenues)," Vice-Speaker of the Iranian
Parliament Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard said
at an economic conference here in Tehran
in March.
At the same time, Iran's First Vice-
President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said
that the country plans to boost its non-oil
exports to $70bln in the next Iranian year
(starts on March 20).
Sayfa 26
"The government targets $70 billion of
non-oil exports in 1391 (March 20, 2012-
March 20, 2013)," Rahimi said.
In March 2011, a senior Iranian economic
official announced that the country plans
to boost its non-oil exports to $301 billion
within the next five years.
Iranian Deputy Commerce Minister Hamid
Safdel stated at the time that Iran's non-
oil exports, excluding gas condensates,
will reach $301 billion in a five-year
period.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.ph
p?nn=9106040390
Iran's Non-Oil Trade Exceeds $37.6bln in 5 Months
TEHRAN (FNA)- The volume of Iran's non-
oil trade with other countries amounted
to $37.6bln during the first five months of
the current Iranian year (March 20 -
August 21), a senior Iranian official
announced on Monday.
"The volume of Iran's non-oil trade, or in
other words the overall non-oil imports
and exports, in the first five months of the
current year surpassed $37.6bln," Head of
Iran's Customs Office Abbas Me'marnejad
told FNA.
Noting that Iran has trade relations with
140 world states, he said that the country
imported 15.7mln tons of non-oil goods
worth of $21.9bln in the first five months
of the current year and exported 30mln
tons of commodities worth of $15.7bln in
the same period.
Iranian officials have underlined that the
country plans to increase its non-oil
exports to over $70bln in the current
Iranian year.
Late in December, Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lauded the
country's growing non-oil exports, and
said Iran's non-oil exports would equal its
imports in the current Iranian year.
Sayfa 27
"God willing, non-oil exports will equal
(Iran's) imports by the end of 1391 (march
19, 2013)," he said, adding, "That would
be a great revolution in the country's
economy."
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.ph
p?nn=9106040388
EC Secretary: NAM Summit to Defuse Sanctions against Iran
TEHRAN (FNA)- Expediency Council
Secretary Mohsen Rezayee said members
of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and
their summit in Tehran can render the
West's economic sanctions against Iran
inefficient as the bloc enjoys a vast array
of potentials and capacities in area of
economy.
"The NAM summit enjoys the capacity to
undermine sanctions, create joint
markets, insurances and banks and
strengthen public diplomacy," Rezayee
told FNA on Monday.
Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-
Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every
member state, including Iran, to the right
of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now
under four rounds of UN Security Council
sanctions and western embargos for
turning down West's calls to give up its
right of uranium enrichment.
Tehran has dismissed the West's demand
as politically tainted and illogical, stressing
that sanctions and pressures merely
consolidate Iranians' national resolve to
continue the path.
Rezayee further pointed to Iran's active
presence in NAM since the formation of
the movement and after the Islamic
Revolution in 1979, and noted, "The West
is seeking to prove that Iran has been left
alone, but we will prove through the
holding of the summit that Iran is not
alone and has vast contacts and those
who impose sanctions against Iran are
actually in minority, and therefore, this
political confrontation is in the interests of
the Iranian nation."
Sayfa 28
NAM is a group of states considering
themselves not aligned formally with or
against any major power bloc. The
movement had 120 members and 17
observer countries.
The countries of the Non-Aligned
Movement represent nearly two-thirds of
the United Nations' members and contain
55% of the world population. Membership
is particularly concentrated in countries
considered to be developing or part of the
Third World.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.ph
p?nn=9106040382
UN Chief to Visit Iran's Enrichment Facility This Week
TEHRAN (FNA)- UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon will visit Iran's Natanz uranium
enrichment facility on the sidelines of his
presence at a summit meeting of the Non-
Aligned Movement (NAM) in Tehran,
sources said on Monday.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for
International Affairs Mehdi Akhoundzadeh
told FNA that "the UN secretary-general
will visit Isfahan province during his stay in
Iran", while other sources said his
presence in Isfahan will be aimed at a visit
to the Natanz facility.
Ban is due to arrive in Iran later this week
to attend the 16th NAM Summit in Tehran
on Thursday and Friday.
Deputy foreign ministers and experts from
the NAM member states started a
meeting here in the Iranian capital on
Sunday. The two-day experts meeting
which ends this evening and will be
followed by the NAM's foreign ministerial
meeting on August 28 and 29 is drawing
up the agenda for the 16th heads-of-state
summit meeting of the bloc to be held in
Tehran on Thursday and Friday.
Sayfa 29
Iran assumed the rotating presidency of
the movement from Egypt for three years
during the Sunday meeting.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.ph
p?nn=9106040362
Iran, India to hold meeting on access to landlocked Afghanistan
TEHRAN, Aug. 25 (MNA) - India, Iran and
Afghanistan will hold talks on giving India
greater access to landlocked Afghanistan,
Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai
said on Saturday.
The three countries will meet Sunday to
discuss how best to use the southeastern
Iranian port of Chahbahar and develop
road and rail links from there to
Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal
quoted Mathai as telling reporters.
India has been one of the largest
contributors of development aid to
Afghanistan. Over the past decade, it has
spent more than $2 billion to help build
infrastructure, including roads, power
projects and hospitals.
For India the shortest and most
economical route for sending supplies to
Afghanistan would be by road through
Pakistan, but its decades-long rival has
denied New Delhi road access to Kabul,
making the route through Iran all the
more significant.
Iran also hopes to develop an industrial
zone near Chahbahar and wants to attract
foreign investment to set up industries
there, Mathai said.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
who will be in Tehran to attend the Non-
Aligned Movement summit, is to meet
with Supreme Leader of the Islamic
Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the
WSJ reported.
http://www.mehrnews.com/en/newsdeta
il.aspx?NewsID=1680388
3. ISRAEL - PALESTINE
Israel closes key Jerusalem checkpoint, limiting Palestinian residents' access to city
Refugee camp residents will only be able
to cross into Israel via central checkpoint
now; plan contravenes 2008 High Court
ruling construction must be undertaken to
Sayfa 30
Shoafat crossing before Ras Khamis
checkoint closed.
The Defense Ministry is planning to seal
up the Ras Khamis checkpoint, one of the
only two exits into Israel for the 65,000
Palestinian residents of the Shoafat
refugee camp in northeast Jerusalem.
The Palestinian, who are considered
residents of Jerusalem, can now enter
Israel only through the Shoafat central
checkpoint, severely limiting their access
to the city.
The plan in its current format contravenes
a ruling by the High Court of Justice
passed in 2008, which determined that
the Shoafat central checkpoint would
need eight pedestrian crossings and four
crossings for vehicles before the smaller
checkpoint could be closed.
This would mean that some 16,000 people
who had been using the Ras Khamis
crossing daily will now have cross into
Israel only via the central checkpoint.
Moreover, although the two checkpoints
are only 350 meters from each other, in
actuality residents who used to pass
through Ras Khamis will have to travel two
kilometers to get to the central crossing.
Over the past few days, the Defense
Ministry dismantled the security cameras
at the crossing, with police sources saying
these were first steps toward sealing the
checkpoint by next week.
“They were meant to build additional
lanes for cars and a few for pedestrians,”
says Jamil Sanduqa, head of the refugee
camp’s residents’ committee. “But they
haven’t even done any groundwork for
this. Now our children are starting school.
You know what kind of crowding there’s
going to be here? As it is they’re choking
us.”
The Shoafat refugee camp includes four
villages crowded one next to the other:
Shoafat, Ras Shehada, Dahiyat al-Salaam
and Ras Khamis. All these are in
northeastern Jerusalem, within the city’s
municipal boundaries, but in practice, they
are cut off from the city, because the
separation barrier surrounds them on
three sides. On the eastern side, the
refugee camp is open toward the village of
Anata, which is in the Palestinian
Authority-controlled areas.
Sayfa 31
To get into Jerusalem, the tens of
thousands of refugee camp residents have
had two options: The central checkpoint,
which was upgraded recently, and the Ras
Khamis checkpoint, a small border
crossing serving only pedestrians, but
through which thousands of people pass.
About four years ago, residents in and
near Ras Khamis were told that the
Defense Ministry was planning to close
the Ras Khamis checkpoint in order to
complete the separation barrier in the
area. From then, they were told, they
would have to use the main checkpoint,
along with 50,000 other refugee camp
residents.
With the help of the Association for Civil
Rights in Israel, the residents petitioned
the High Court, which set down clear
conditions for closing down Ras Khamis;
this included expanding the main
checkpoint to include four lands for
vehicles, to be manned and open 24 hours
a day, and eight paths for pedestrians.
Today, Sanduqa says, there’s only one
pedestrian crossing. “They have to build
another seven, like the court said,” he
said.
Aside from all this, the court ruled that the
Defense Ministry must, as part of the
expanded crossing, build a special lane for
checking suspicious vehicles, parking lots
so that residents could “park and ride”
public transportation, and a plaza for
examining vehicles bringing goods from
the Shoafat area to Israel.
About half a year ago the Defense
Ministry erected large signs throughout
the refugee camp announcing the planned
closure of the Ras Khamis crossing. The
residents’ committee and ACRI contacted
several relevant officials demanding that
the closure not be implemented.
“An in fact, nothing happened, until now,”
explained Sanduqa, when the dismantling
of the security cameras raised residents’
Sayfa 32
suspicions, and they discovered the
crossing was to be closed.
As a result, on Sunday, ACRI wrote a
sharply worded letter to Public Security
Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, to Defense
Minister Ehud Barak, to the Civil
Administration officers responsible for the
area and other officials, demanding that
the move not be made without meeting
the High Court’s requirements.
“Closing the Ras Khamis checkpoint at this
time, before you have met your
obligations with regarding to the [central]
Shoafat refugee camp checkpoint, will
constitute a serious, disproportionate
blow to the population’s freedom of
movement, which is dependent on
crossing that checkpoint,” wrote Nasrin
Alian, an attorney for ACRI.
“As a result, their rights to earn a living,
receive medical care, learn, teach, visit the
holy places and their relatives, will be
undermined,” she wrote.
The Defense Ministry said: “The Ras
Khamis crossing was a very small
checkpoint that was a temporary
checkpoint from the start. Ras Khamis
residents will soon be moving to use the
Shoafat crossing, which has been rebuilt
to a high standard so it can handle
thousands of residents.
“At the Shoafat crossing, which is only 350
meters from the Ras Khamis crossing,
more than 5,000 people pass through
during peak hours [between 6-8 A.M.] and
[the central crossing] will able to absorb
more without unusual pressure. The issue
meets the guidelines of the High Court of
Justice and has been implemented in
coordination with ACRI and the courts.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy
-defense/israel-closes-key-jerusalem-
checkpoint-limiting-palestinian-residents-
access-to-city-1.460992
C'tee okays PM portfolio changes amid war rumors
Netanyahu backtracks on request to alter
investments to avoid Iran commentary;
Mofaz: Move betrays PM's intent to strike
Iran.
PM Netanyahu at the President's
Residence Photo: Amos Ben-
Gershom/GPO
Sayfa 33
A special committee has given its initial
approval for Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu to make changes to his foreign
and domestic investment portfolio, amid
increased speculation in recent weeks that
Israel is considering a strike against Iran's
nuclear facilities, a move that would
certainly send shockwaves throughout the
global economy.
Netanyahu quickly backtracked on his
decision, saying he wanted to avoid
fueling rumors about a potential strike on
Iranian nuclear facilities, but not before
drawing sharp rebuke by opposition
leader Shaul Mofaz and Labor party head
Shelly Yechimovich, both of whom
accused the prime minister of
improprieties.
The committee, functioning under the
auspices of the State Comptroller's Office,
was formed following the Second Lebanon
War when then-IDF chief of staff Dan
Halutz was accused of insider trading for
liquidating his investment portfolio just
two hours after Hezbollah gunmen
kidnapped two soldiers along the northern
border. Halutz's portfolio was valued at
approximately NIS 120,000. It would have
suffered losses with the rest of the Tel
Aviv 25 index, which dropped 8.3 percent
during the week following the outbreak of
hostilities.
Ministers and their immediate family
members are required to place their
assets in a blind trust for the duration of
their term in government in order to
prevent conflicts of interest.
In approving Netanyahu's request, the
committee stated: "It appears that, in light
of the drastic and frequent macro-
economic changes, there seems to be a
clear need to allow the trustee to make
changes with the faith of the
government," according to Globes. The
committee added that it would meet
again on October 10 to finalize its
decision.
In response to the report, the Prime
Minister's Office released a statement
saying that Netanyahu has decided to
avoid making changes to his investment
portfolio for fear that such a move would
mistakenly be interpreted as connected to
an Israeli military strike on Iran.
Opposition leader Shaul Mofaz said that
Netanyahu's financial move betrayed his
Sayfa 34
intention to attack Iran. "The prime
minister's request to adjust his investment
portfolio is a strange step that betrays
more than a small hint about his
intentions," Mofaz said. "His actions prove
that he is well aware of the massive risks
to state security from a hasty,
uncoordinated and unnecessary decision
to attack Iran unilaterally."
Labor party leader Shelly Yechimovich tied
Netanyahu's move to the Halutz scandal.
"If [Netanyahu] has important
information, he should share it with the
public," Yechimovich said. "We have
already been witness to improprieties by
[former IDF] chief of staff Halutz, who sent
IDF soldiers into combat, during which
many of them lost their lives, but found
time to call the bank and to sell his shares.
The public is disgusted, and rightly so,"
she said.
The Jerusalem Post has learned that
Netanyahu has been saying in private
meetings that a strike on Iran's nuclear
facilities would be worthwhile, even if
Israel cannot completely destroy Iran’s
nuclear program.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Arti
cle.aspx?id=282728
Police nab 3 youths for firebombing Palestinian taxi
Two weeks after 6 Palestinians were
injured by a Molotov cocktail, police arrest
three 12, 13-year-old suspects from Bat
Ayin.
Two suspects in firebomb attack in J'lem
court Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90
Nearly 10 days after the firebombing of a
Palestinian taxi that wounded six family
members, police on Sunday announced
the arrest of three suspects in the attack.
They are boys between 12 and 13 years
old, and from the Bat Ayin settlement in
Gush Etzion, south of the capital.
At the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on
Sunday night, all three suspects were
diminutive and looked every bit their
young age. They appeared to be in good
spirits and were taken out of the
courtroom to the cheers of two friends
waiting for them.
Two of the suspects are 12 years old and
one is 13. Police detained them Sunday
Sayfa 35
afternoon and continued to question
them Sunday night. If investigators are not
able to turn up more information by
Monday morning, the boys will be
released to house arrest.
The youths’ lawyer, David Halevi, said the
fact that the suspects may be released on
Monday is proof that “the police have no
meaningful evidence against his clients.”
He said that the weakness of the case is
illustrated by the fact that the Shin Bet
(Israel Security Agency) already
questioned them following the crime
along with a number of additional
suspects, but did not arrest them.
Halevi represents the suspects on behalf
of the Honenu organization, which
defends Jewish suspects accused of crimes
against Arabs. Halevi also represents a 15-
year-old girl who is one of the main
suspects in the brutal mob beating of an
Arab boy, 17, in Jerusalem’s Zion Square
on August 17, the same night the
Palestinian taxi was attacked.
Gush Etzion Regional Council head Davidi
Perl said he strongly condemns the
firebombing, but that it was important not
to race to judge the three teens before
they were charged.
“They are still just suspects,” he said.
The settlement of Bat Ayin also
condemned violence against what it
termed innocents, but rejected any
connection to the attack.
"We are certain that none of our residents
had a hand in this grave incident, which
goes against all human and Jewish values,"
a statement said.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Arti
cle.aspx?id=282699
'Welcome to Palestine' group denied entry into West Bank
Activists pictured during a protest at
Brussels national airport in April.
Some 1,200 people throughout Europe
had bought plane tickets for an April 15
visit to the West Bank as part of a
campaign called "Welcome to Palestine".
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Dozens of foreign
peace activists were denied entry into the
West Bank by Israeli authorities at the
Sayfa 36
Allenby Bridge crossing on Sunday
evening, organizers of the third 'Welcome
to Palestine' initiative said.
"The Welcome to Palestine Campaign
decries the Israeli denial of entry via the
Allenby Bridge to over 100 internationals
who wanted to visit us in the occupied
Palestinian Territories," organizers said in
a statement.
The group of around 100 activists had
finished passport checks at the Jordanian
side of the Allenby crossing but were
denied entry at the first Israeli checkpoint
and told to return to where they had
come from, a spokesman for WTP told
Ma'an.
No explanation was provided by Israeli
crossing authorities as to why the group
was denied entry, but the delegation will
try to enter the West Bank again on
Monday, the spokesman added.
"The denial of entry today at the Allenby
Bridge border crossing from Jordan shows
that the previous policies of siege and
isolation continue," organizers said.
"We thus will continue to initiate more
Welcome to Palestine campaigns. We
insist on the freedom of entry. As Israel
persists in these unjust policies, it is only
fair to ask all countries to reciprocate by
denying Israelis entry to these countries."
Since Friday, around 100 activists have
arrived in Jordan, with the intention of
crossing the Israeli-controlled border with
the West Bank on Sunday.
Pro-Palestinian international activists
smile in Amman, as they head towards
King Hussein Bridge at the border
between Jordan and Israel,
August 26, 2012.(Reuters/Ali Jarekji)
The group included French, British,
German and American supporters,
campaigners told Ma'an.
Political figures were due to greet the
delegation in Bethlehem and the group
was then scheduled to spend five days
visiting Jerusalem, refugee camps, the
Negev and villages in Hebron that are
struggling against Israel's separation wall.
Welcome to Palestine had previously
organized two "flytillas," when foreigners
Sayfa 37
stated their intention to visit Palestine on
entry to Israeli airport Ben Gurion,
drawing Israel to deny entry to many of
the passengers and distribute blacklists to
airlines.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDeta
ils.aspx?ID=514694
Report: Fayyad seeks advice from Bank of Israel governor
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Palestinian
Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
met with the Governor of the Bank of
Israel Stanley Fischer last Friday in
Jerusalem, Israeli media reported on
Monday.
Hebrew-language news site Maariv said
that the meeting came at Fayyad’s
request, and he was seeking advice on
future economic steps.
The officials, who worked together at the
International Monetary Fund in the 1990s,
met at the American Colony Hotel in East
Jerusalem, the report said.
Fischer’s office confirmed that he met
with Fayyad, but they gave no further
details.
Fayyad's Ramallah-based government has
descended into a worsening financial crisis
during 2012, citing large debts and the
failure of donors to deliver aid.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDeta
ils.aspx?ID=514746
Water Authority Condemns Israeli Demolition of Wells
RAMALLAH, August 27, 2012 (WAFA) –
Head of the Palestinian Water Authority
(PWA) Shaddad Attili condemned Israel’s
destruction of Palestinian agricultural
wells in the Kufr Dan area, near Jenin,
according to a statement by PWA on
Monday.
The statement came following the Israeli
military threat to destroy more wells in
Jenin area if Palestinian farmers refuse to
close down and destroy more on their
own.
Attili described Israel’s demolition of
Palestinian water infrastructure as a grave
violation of basic Palestinian water rights,
and said that it formed part of a broader
campaign being waged by Israel to forcibly
displace Palestinians from their land to
Sayfa 38
facilitate ongoing illegal Israeli settlement
expansion.
“Israel’s demolition of essential
Palestinian water infrastructure is
particularly concentrated in Area C and
other areas of the West Bank that are
under threat of confiscation for the
purposes of illegal settlement expansion
and the construction of Israel’s Wall. This
is where some of the most vulnerable
Palestinian communities live, and where
the viability of the two-state solution is
now being called into doubt,” Attili added.
He slammed the Israeli excuse of permits
and ‘authorization’ as a way to veto and
block essential Palestinian water projects
and to stunt Palestinian development,
stressing that Palestinians are not even
close to being able to abstract the
volumes of water allocated to them under
previous agreements, largely because of
Israel’s punitive permit regime.
Israel’s refusal to permit the construction
of new Palestinian wells that are urgently
needed, as well as its refusal to allow for
the rehabilitation of old wells leaves some
Palestinians with no choice but to drill
wells without a permit, said the
statement.
It estimated that water losses incurred as
a result of Israeli restrictions on the
rehabilitation of licensed Palestinian wells
amounted to approximately 4 MCM/y.
Attili appealed to the international
community to intervene to end Israel’s
policy of deliberately targeting and
destroying essential Palestinian water
infrastructure, as well as he called on the
U.S State Department, as chair of the
Trilateral Water Committee, to act swiftly.
He further denied claims made by the
Israeli Civil Administration that its latest
destruction of agricultural wells in the
Jenin area was carried out in coordination
with PWA
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=
detail&id=20522
4. AFRICA and EGYPT
First crack in Libya National Congress: Interior minister resigns
Sayfa 39
Abdelali resigns after coming under fire
for performance of security forces during
surge of violence that has rocked Libya.
TRIPOLI - Interior Minister Fawzi Abdelali
resigned on Sunday after coming under
fire for the performance of security forces
during a surge of violence that has rocked
Libya, an official from his office said.
"He submitted his resignation to protest
against congressmen criticising the
government and to defend the
revolutionaries," the official said, referring
to former rebels who now form part of
Libya's security services.
Libyan security services have come in for
censure following double car bombings
that killed two people on the day Muslims
celebrated the feast of Eid al-Fitr a week
ago in Tripoli and attacks on several Sufi
shrines in the past few days.
The criticism has been led by the newly-
elected General National Congress, which
on Sunday accused the interior ministry's
High Security Committee of being lax or
even implicated in the destruction of the
Sufi shrines.
Islamist hardliners on Saturday bulldozed
part of the mausoleum of Al-Shaab Al-
Dahman, close to the centre of the Libyan
capital.
The demolition came a day after
hardliners blew up the mausoleum of
Sheikh Abdessalem al-Asmar in Zliten, 160
kilometres (100 miles) east of the capital.
According to witnesses another
mausoleum that of Sheikh Ahmed al-
Zarruq, had been destroyed in the port of
Misrata, 200 kilometres (125 miles) east of
Tripoli.
Hardline Sunni Islamists are implacably
opposed to the veneration of tombs of
revered Muslim figures, saying that such
devotion should be reserved for God
alone.
Sayfa 40
The Sufi sect, which practices a mystical
form of Islam and has played a historic
role in the affairs of Libya, has increasingly
found itself in conflict with Qatari- and
Saudi-trained Salafist preachers who
consider it heretical.
The High Security Committee comprises
ex-rebels who fought Moamer Gathafi's
forces last year in a conflict that ended in
the dictator's death.
The rebels had taken over security in the
country after the fall of Gathafi's regime
before they were integrated into the
ministry of interior's forces.
http://www.middle-east-
online.com/english/?id=54045
Morsi’s Egypt: ‘Revolution’ fails to break wave of self-immolations
Egyptian man sets fire to himself outside
presidential palace in Cairo to protest
against losing his job.
CAIRO - An Egyptian man was reported to
be in stable condition after he set fire to
himself on Saturday outside the
presidential palace in Cairo to protest
against losing his job, police officials said.
The employee at a state-owned electricity
company had won a court ruling to get
back his job, but the company ignored the
verdict. He doused himself in petrol and
set himself alight as a last resort, the
officials said.
The protest did not appear related to a sit-
in outside the palace in northern Cairo by
activists who oppose President Mohamed
Morsi, the country's first Islamist and
civilian president.
In a statement, the presidency expressed
its "regret" at the man's self-immolation,
the official MENA news agency reported.
Such acts had been rare in Egypt before
several men set fire to themselves in
January and February 2011 in protest
against then President Hosni Mubarak,
Sayfa 41
after a Tunisian street vendor's self-
immolation prompted a revolution in
Tunisia.
Mubarak was overthrown in a popular
uprising that ushered in military rule and
Morsi's election last June.
http://www.middle-east-
online.com/english/?id=54038
Salafists continue march on Libya religious monuments: Government condemns
Radicals use excavator to demolish part of
mausoleum of Al-Shaab Al-Dahman, close
to centre of Libyan capital, in second such
attack in two days.
TRIPOLI - Islamist hardliners bulldozed
part of a revered mausoleum in Tripoli on
Saturday in the second such attack in
Libya in two days, a correspondent
reported.
Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abu
Shagur, in remarks on Twitter, condemned
the actions as "crimes" for which the
culprits should be held responsible.
He had asked the defence and interior
ministries on Friday to intervene "but they
have not carried out their duty in
protecting these sites."
The radicals used an excavator to
demolish part of the mausoleum of Al-
Shaab Al-Dahman, close to the centre of
the Libyan capital, the correspondent said.
It was the second such assault on a
Muslim pilgrimage site in as many days.
On Friday, hardliners blew up the
mausoleum of Sheikh Abdessalem al-
Asmar in Zliten, 160 kilometres (100 miles)
east of Tripoli, a town which was rocked
by deadly clashes earlier this week.
A video posted on social networking sites
purported to show the building being
blown up to cries of "Allahu Akbar (God is
greatest)."
Witnesses said on Saturday that another
mausoleum, that of Sheikh Ahmed al-
Zarruq, had been destroyed in the port of
Misrata 200 kilometres (125 miles) east of
Tripoli.
Sayfa 42
Hardline Sunni Islamists are implacably
opposed to the veneration of tombs of
revered Muslim figures, saying that such
devotion should be reserved for God
alone.
There are conflicting reports as to what
triggered this week's clashes in Zliten, with
some saying they were the result of a
tribal vendetta and others that they pitted
Islamists bent on destroying the shrine
against other residents seeking to protect
it.
The violence, which left at least three
people dead and scores wounded, is on
the agenda of the ruling national congress,
which has requested a security briefing
from the interior minister.
The national assembly's speaker,
Mohamed al-Megarief, in a televised
speech on Saturday, denounced "the
destruction and pillage of several
buildings" and historic manuscripts.
He also said it was "regrettable and
suspect" that members of the security
forces and former rebels may have taken
part in the attacks.
"Such acts are rejected and illegal under
the law and sharia (Islamic law)," Megarief
said.
He added that the prime minister and
defence and interior ministers, along with
the intelligence chief and security service
officials, have been called to appear
before the assembly on Sunday to answer
deputies' questions.
On Thursday, the national assembly,
which was elected in July, met in closed
session to discuss security problems
across the country, with Interior Minister
Fawzi Abdelali reportedly coming in for
heavy criticism.
The session followed a double car
bombing in Tripoli on August 19 that killed
two people. Tribal clashes in the western
region of Zliten have since left at least two
dead and several wounded.
Sayfa 43
Rumours have been circulating in Tripoli
for days that Abdelali and Defence
Minister Osama Juili could both face the
sack.
http://www.middle-east-
online.com/english/?id=54036
Tunisian Minister Launches National Dialogue on Transitional Justice
Yesterday, August 25, Spokesperson of the
Tunisian government and Minister of
Human Rights and Transitional Justice
Samir Dilou launched an open day of
discussions with local associations
concerning the path of transitional justice
in Tunisia.
The Tunisian state-owned news agency
TAP reported that Dilou called all
participants in the process of transitional
justice to forget their differing ideologies
and backgrounds, and to instead focus on
serving the country during such a sensitive
period. According to the same source,
Dilou stated that he understands public
concerns about the slow progress in the
realm of transitional justice. However, he
insisted that transitional justice is
different from justice served during a
period of stability.
Mohsen Sahbani, the coordinator of the
committee that organized the national
dialogue, told TAP that this gathering aims
at giving associations and non-profit
organizations the opportunity to present
their suggestions, visions, and projects
concerning transitional justice procedures
in Tunisia. Such topics include fighting
corruption and compensating the families
of the martyrs and the wounded of the
revolution.
Some attendees of the conference
expressed their dissatisfaction with the
current situation of transitional justice
through voicing critical comments. Zouhair
Makhlouf, representative of the Tunisian
branch of Amnesty International, accused
the ruling three-power coalition
government of manipulating transitional
justice, as many important documents and
evidence of corruption have been
destroyed since the revolution. Makhlouf
called for setting up independent and
constant mechanisms to prevent former
regime deeds from resurfacing.
Sayfa 44
The national dialogue addressing
transitional justice has started recently in
different regions of the country. A final
draft of the law concerning transitional
justice is to be implemented by the end of
this dialogue. According to Tunisia’s
Mosaique FM radio station, Dilou stated
that his ministry will officially propose the
project law of transitional justice in the
upcoming weeks. The same radio station
reported that Jamel Gharsalli, president of
the Association of Martyrs and Wounded
of the Revolution in Kasserine, suggested
creating a separate tribunal for
transitional justice.
http://www.tunisia-
live.net/2012/08/26/tunisian-minister-
launches-national-dialogue-on-
transitional-justice/
Tunisia draft constitution marred by setbacks
Legal experts shed a critical light on
Tunisia's draft constitution and call for a
better protection of civil liberties.
While Tunisia is in the midst of drafting a
new constitution, many legal experts are
concerned that the process is not on the
right track.
The Association of Constitutional Law and
the International Institute for Democracy
on Wednesday (August 22nd) held a
round-table seminar in Tunis, intended to
serve as a preliminary reading of the
general principles of the anticipated
constitution.
"If this draft is not amended in the plenary
sessions of the Constituent Assembly, the
new constitution would assassinate
freedoms in Tunisia and threaten the
freedoms gained with the revolution," said
Tunisian lawyer and former Dean of the
Faculty of Law and Political Science Iyadh
Ben Achour.
He considered the new draft constitution
to be inconsistent with the demands of
the revolution for a civilian state. For
example, Ben Achour claimed that
repeated expressions of religiosity and
holy sites in Article 1 of Chapter IV pave
the way for the establishment of
dictatorship through a religious state.
This Article indicates, "The state is the
sponsor of religion, ensuring the freedom
of belief and religious practices, and the
protector of holy sites, ensuring the
Sayfa 45
neutrality of houses of worship from
partisan propaganda."
There is confusion between general
provisions and freedoms in the draft
constitution, he pointed out. Some articles
inserted under general provisions could
have been incorporated under freedoms.
According to the lawyer, this represents a
systematic error that must be overcome.
Ben Achour elaborated that the method
envisaged by the committees in writing
some of the articles is not a legal one and
does not solidify rights in a practical way
but opens doors for dangerous anti-
freedom interpretations.
He attributed these gaps to the lack of
legal experience and constitutional
knowledge of the members of the
Constituent Assembly.
In this context, Ben Achour stressed the
importance of precision in the choice of
words.
The Constituent Assembly proposed three
weeks ago an initial project of the
constitution draft though the committees
had not resolved debate on a number of
contentious issues, particularly concerning
the nature of the political system and the
general principles of freedom.
For his part, member of the International
Academy of Constitutional Law Ghazi
Ghrairi criticised the preamble of the draft
constitution, considering it long and
stuffed with numerous vague concepts.
He urged the members of the Constituent
Assembly to formulate a constitution
better than the one from 1959 and to
ensure that human rights are clearly
spelled out.
Regarding freedom of belief, international
law expert Slim Loghmani called for
prioritising international treaties over the
new constitution. He called for adopting
Article 18 of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, which was
ratified by Tunisia and protects freedoms.
Loghmani commented that Article 1 of the
draft constitution was vague with regard
to religion and the state. It would,
according to him, close doors to all
attempts to establish secularism.
The Article reads, "Tunisia is a free,
independent and sovereign state. Its
Sayfa 46
religion is Islam, its language is Arabic and
its type of government is republic."
Professor of constitutional law Salwa
Hamrouni opposed the chapter specifying
the religion of the president as well as the
one about excluding holders of a second
nationality from running for the
presidency.
"The candidate for the Presidency of the
Republic must be a voter, of exclusively
Tunisian nationality, Muslim, born to a
Tunisian father and mother, and be at
least 40 years of age," according to Article
46 of the draft law.
The requirement is incompatible with the
principle of non-discrimination advocated
by the constitution, Hamrouni argued.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi
/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/20
12/08/24/feature-01
Algerian imams engage militants in dialogue
Religious leaders in Algeria say youths
drawn to extremist ideology are basing
their views on a misguided interpretation
of Islam.
Imams in Algerian mosques are holding
talks with militants, repentant terrorists
and extremist youths to convince them to
renounce their ideology, give up armed
action and opt for peace.
Many preachers have said that combating
extremism cannot be achieved through
weapons and force alone. They believe
that talking to militants may have a
positive impact and may convince many of
them to put down arms and renounce
violence after intellectually arguing with
them and proving the incorrectness of the
fatwas they use to justify their extremist
positions.
Some imams have organised meetings
attended by some jihadist salafists and
repentant terrorists who gave up armed
action. Moreover, other initiatives have
been launched by a group of imams and
preachers through debates with former
terrorists both inside and outside prisons
to convince them to renounce violence
and extremism.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs said that
such initiatives are at the core of imams'
mission. Adda Fellahi, an advisor to the
Sayfa 47
religious affairs minister, told El Khabar
August 21st that the ministry did not give
any instructions to the imams holding the
talks.
"The ministry blesses these steps which
stem from a sense of responsibility in
imams, and confirmed that some debates
and discussions were conducted through
some programmes such as Radio Qur'an
and led to very positive results," Fellahi
added, stressing that the role of clerics in
this issue was pivotal and needs to be
supported by all.
Sheikh Ahmed, an imam at a mosque in
Algiers, says, "Curbing the spread of
armed groups or their recruitment of new
elements is dependent on drying up the
sources of takfirist ideology which these
extremist groups embrace."
He added that he has often met with a
number of young people who embrace
this extremist ideology, and talked with
them about some ideological and Sharia
issues.
"Most of the meetings were dedicated for
responding to the ideas and fatwas that
they use to justify taking up arms in
Algeria," he added in a statement to
Magharebia. "Most of these fatwas were
weak in argument and weren't
recommended by top Islamic scholars. We
tried to show this to those young people
who were victims of brainwashing due to
their poor religious and intellectual
levels."
However, Sheikh Ahmed acknowledged
the difficulty of the mission, especially in
talking to militants in the mountains
because of a lack of means of
communication that would allow them to
get in touch and respond to takfirist
fatwas.
In his turn, Larbi Lemdani, a researcher in
armed groups, believes that "previous
experiences in Algeria and other Arab
countries, such as Egypt, have led to an
ideological output that would help
confront the ideology of al-Qaeda in
Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other armed
groups."
"Many of these ideas involve many
jurisprudential errors, especially regarding
rules and controls of jihad. Such defects
have prompted some of its elements to
Sayfa 48
leave and give up armed action,"
according to Lemdani.
In recent years, official entities and civil
society organisations have organised
several forums related to extremism.
Two years ago, Algeria hosted preachers
and religious scholars in seminars
attended by repentant terrorists and
young people from the extremist current.
Dialogues were held on the religious ideas
embraced by salafist young people and
scholars' response. Radio Qur'an also
broadcast programmes on extremism and
intolerance. The testimonies of some
repentant terrorists showed that such
activities affected many militants who
gave up armed action.
In 2009, Algeria witnessed the birth of the
first revision issued by a group of
prisoners involved in terrorism cases. The
revision was in the form of a message sent
to the president in which they explained
their position on armed action in Algeria.
They said that the acts that were done in
the name of religion lost their legitimate
cover after they carefully considered what
scholars said.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi
/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/20
12/08/24/feature-02
Brotherhood official hopes new bill will legitimize group
A senior Muslim Brotherhood leader
expressed his hope Monday that a new bill
on civil society organizations will be
passed, allowing the group to legalize its
status and ending controversy over the
issue.
Saad al-Husseiny, former chairman of the
now-dissolved People's Assembly Budget
and Planning Committee, voiced his
opinion about the bill in a Twitter
message.
"Had [it not] been to save embarrassment,
I would have asked the president to
consult political forces before passing the
law on civil society that the People's
Assembly had prepared," Husseiny wrote.
"I believe the Brotherhood will
immediately seek to legalize its position
based on the new law."
Last month, Insurance and Social Affairs
Minister Nagwa Khalil told Al-Masry Al-
Youm that a number of Brotherhood
Sayfa 49
leaders had verbally approached her to
legalize the group's status through the
new bill. She said, however, that they did
not submit formal requests, fearing that
"the number of its members, sources of
funding and unlawful objectives would be
exposed."
The Brotherhood had been banned under
former President Hosni Mubarak. After
the 25 January revolution, many called for
the Brotherhood to seek legal status.
Former MP Mohamed Abou Hamed led
protests Friday demanding that the group
be dissolved, but the demonstrations
drew a low turnout.
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news
/brotherhood-official-hopes-new-bill-will-
legitimize-group
5. JORDAN and LEBANON
By order of Israel: Jordan bars activists from crossing into West Bank
Israel, Jordan bar pro-Palestinian activists
from trying to cross into West Bank to
deliver aid to students.
Israel and Jordan on Sunday barred pro-
Palestinian US and European activists from
trying to cross into the West Bank to
deliver aid to students, a number of
sources said.
Olivia Zemor, spokeswoman for the
"Welcome to Palestine" group
spearheading the mission, said that one
bus of activists was allowed through the
Allenby Bridge border crossing by the
Jordanian authorities but the Israelis
turned them back.
"The (Israeli) authorities took all their
passports and stamped 'entry denied' on
all of them and told them to return," she
said.
"The second bus was prevented (from
crossing) by the Jordanians at the request
of the Israeli authorities. They obeyed the
orders of the Israelis," she said.
"One police officer told us that 'we got
orders from Israel. We cannot let you
leave'. We demanded explanation and
nobody gave us any explanation. Then
some of us demonstrated," she said.
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An Israeli defence ministry official in
Jerusalem confirmed that Israeli
authorities had stopped the activists from
entering the West Bank after a group of
them arrived at the Allenby Bridge
crossing.
"A small group of provocateurs, rioters
and known troublemakers arrived at the
Allenby crossing earlier today," the official
said.
"The state of Israel exercised its right to
refuse their entry, and they returned to
Jordan."
Earlier Sunday, Walid Attalah, a
spokesman for the "Welcome to
Palestine" campaign in Jordan said that
the two buses had been prevented from
crossing by the Jordanians.
"Two buses carrying 100 activists were not
allowed to leave the Jordanian side" of
Allenby Bridge Crossing, also known as
King Hussein Bridge between the West
Bank and Jordan, Attalah said.
Atallah said the "activists left the buses
and started to demonstrate near the
checkpoint. One of them fainted and was
taken to hospital."
As part of the campaign, aimed at
highlighting Israel's control over entry to
the occupied territories, the activists
sought to provide Palestinian students
with a tonne of toys, pens, notebooks and
other supplies.
"This is our fourth initiative to enter
Palestine," Zemor told a news conference
before leaving for the crossing, around 35
kilometres (20 miles) southeast of
Amman.
"We have around 100 participants, from
France, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, the
United States, aged between 10 and 50.
All kinds of people, from all backgrounds
and religions. They are all motivated to
visit Palestine."
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Five school buses drove the activists to the
crossing as they chanted "Free Palestine!"
and sang Palestinian traditional songs.
Some wore T-shirts with "I have a dream"
printed on them, while others flashed V-
for-victory sign.
The campaigners tried to enter the
occupied West Bank through Israel in July
2011 and April 2012, but the authorities at
Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport denied them
entry.
The activists, who had planned to stay for
a week in the West Bank, say their mission
comes at the invitation of Bethlehem
governor Abdel-Fatah Hamayel.
Some activists had been sceptical in
advance they would be allowed in.
"I tried in July last year and April, but the
Israelis put me in prison for one day. I
expect they will reject us again just like
they did before. It is ridiculous and a
shame," American volunteer Michael Rabb
said.
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online.com/english/?id=54048
Berri’s desperate attempts
Whether opponents or allies, it is hard for
anyone to deny the fact that the Syrian
regime has been hit hard, and that the
question is no longer if, but when, it will
fall. Everyone is preparing for what will
happen in Syria post-Assad and how that
will impact Lebanon, and some have
already started to move away from
Assad’s regime. For example, President
Michel Suleiman seems to have recently
shifted stances, and Speaker Nabih Berri
could follow.
One cannot but notice Berri’s sudden
burst of concern for stability and the
reinforcement of state institutions. The
man whose armed thugs invaded Beirut
during the May events of 2008 under the
leadership of Hezbollah, and who closed
the parliament for 18 months and
participated in the occupation of
downtown Beirut, now believes that “The
state is the sole authority despite
dereliction,” as he said last Tuesday.
Former Minister Michel Samaha’s arrest
was a big blow to Berri, as it showed that
Syria’s lackeys are not protected in
Lebanon anymore. If Samaha was taken
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in, then anyone, no matter how close they
are to Assad, could face the same destiny.
Berri is desperate to save his seat as
speaker in the 2013 elections. Without it,
he will lose his power within the Shiite
community, which mostly relies on funds
and services hijacked from state
institutions.
He also knows that his partners in
Hezbollah detest him and are willing to
dump him whenever the opportunity
presents itself. When Assad goes,
Hezbollah will try its best to hold on to
Lebanon, under full Iranian influence this
time. Without Assad, what is Berri going
to do?
Berri and Hezbollah have long been
considered “frenemies” by the Lebanese.
After the Iranian Revolution in 1979,
Berri’s party, Amal, enjoyed generous
Iranian support. But in 1982, Ruhallah
Khomeini decided to form his own party
on Lebanese soil. Amal Deputy Secretary
General Hussein al-Musawi formed an
organization called Islamic Amal, a group
fully funded by Iran. Many prominent
Amal members subsequently left
mainstream Amal and joined several
smaller militias that would later come to
be known as Hezbollah.
By the late 1980s, the two parties were
completely separate.
The only factor that forced Hezbollah and
Amal to form an alliance in the 1990s was
Syria’s desire that the Lebanese Shiites
remain united. (Although the Syrians
withdrew from Lebanon in 2005, this
factor is still behind the present
Hezbollah-Amal coalition.)
The liberation of the South in 2000 was a
watershed moment for Hezbollah, whose
popularity skyrocketed. The death of
Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and the
ascension of his son Bashar just months
later also helped strengthen the
relationship between the Syrian regime
and the Party of God, as the younger
Assad recognized Hezbollah as a rising
power and beefed up ties.
Syrian support for Amal changed
dramatically after the Syrian withdrawal of
2005, and all the privileges that Amal had
previously enjoyed from Damascus shifted
to Hezbollah. For a while, many political
observers actually thought that Berri
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might rebel against his party and critics,
and join the growing anti-Syrian camp.
Instead, he stepped aside, holding onto
his speaker post but allowing Hezbollah to
become the main Shiite party.
Berri is the only pro-Syrian Lebanese
politician who has not been stripped of his
authority. He had to remain dependent on
the Syrian regime and thus had to accept
the status quo.
Berri’s dissatisfaction with this
arrangement was made clear last year
when a leaked cable dating from the
beginning of the July War in 2006 showed
that Berri suggested the conflict was an
opportunity to deal a serious blow to his
ersatz ally.
"Berri condemned the ferocity of Israel's
military response but admitted that a
successful Israeli campaign against
Hezbollah would be an excellent way to
destroy Hezbollah's military aspirations
and discredit their political ambitions,"
read the cable, filed by then-US
Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman.
But now he must be scared. He hasn’t said
a word about the Syrian uprising since it
started in early 2011. This doesn’t mean
that he hasn’t been working behind the
scenes to support the regime whenever
he is needed. Yet all of Assad’s other
Lebanese allies have gone out of their way
to publically support the embattled
regime.
Berri has always thought of himself as a
man for all seasons, and no matter what,
he always eventually finds a spot for
himself. Now, he has hopes that if he
keeps on walking the thin line between
Hezbollah and its opponents in Lebanon,
he will inherit a major part of the Shiite
community from Hezbollah.
Hezbollah is very much aware of its ally’s
loathing, and the party is still pretending
their alliance is strong because it is still
needed. However, the fall of the Assad
regime and the breakdown of the alliance
between Iran and Syria might mean that
Berri will find he has no real friends. He
cannot switch sides because everybody
knows that Berri came with the Syrian
regime, has always relied on it, and will
eventually go with it. He never tried to
cement his support base by championing a
cause or ideology, and now if he loses his
state position from which he has been
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siphoning money and services, he will lose
his followers. In the best-case scenario,
Berri will at least feel liberated.
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Netanyahu: Israel will strike Lebanon in case of Hezbollah provocation
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
warned the Lebanese government that
Israel would strike Lebanon if the Shiite
party Hezbollah attempted any
provocation against his country, Israeli
daily Haartez reported on Monday.
The daily added that the premier
conveyed the message to the Lebanese
government through a Western diplomat
he met in Jerusalem several weeks ago.
The daily quoted a “well-informed” senior
official as saying that Netanyahu “sees
Hezbollah as part of the Lebanese
administration.”
“The prime minister therefore clarified to
the government that if Hezbollah attacks
Israel, the Israel Defense Forces will strike
back forcefully – without differentiating
between Hezbollah and the state of
Lebanon,” the official said.
"As far as we're concerned, the Lebanese
government is responsible for whatever
happens in its jurisdiction," Netanyahu
told the Western diplomat.
Haartez added that the premier’s office
declined to comment on the matter.
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6. SYRIA
Helicopter crashes in Damascus amid reports of fierce fighting
Syrian President Assad says foreign
‘conspiracy’ will be defeated amid reports
of bloody rampage in town near
Damascus.
DAMASCUS - A Syrian helicopter crashed
in eastern Damascus on Monday, state
television said, amid reports of shelling
and fierce fighting in the area.
The television said it came down near a
mosque in the district of Qaboon, but
gave no further information.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
meanwhile said it believed the helicopter
"was hit while it was being used in fighting
nearby."
It reported clashes between troops and
the rebel Free Syrian Army in several areas
of Damascus, including the
neighbourhood of Jubar -- where anti-
regime sentiment is strong -- and several
nearby towns east of the city.
The violence flared a day after the
Observatory reported the discovery of
hundreds of bodies in the town of the
Daraya southwest of the capital after what
opposition militants said was a "massacre"
by government troops.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on
Sunday the foreign "conspiracy" against
his country would be defeated.
"The Syrian people will not allow this
conspiracy to achieve its objectives" and
will defeat it "at any price," Assad said
during a meeting in Damascus with a top
official from Iran, Syria's chief regional
ally.
The Syrian leader has since March last
year been trying through force to smother
a popular uprising that has turned into a
brutal civil war which has left thousands
dead, seen more than 200,000 refugees
fleeing to neighbouring countries and 2.5
million in need inside Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
said at least 320 people were killed in a
five-day onslaught on Daraya, a satellite
town southwest of the capital, by troops
battling to crush insurgents.
Grisly videos issued by opposition
militants showed dozens of charred and
bloodied bodies lined up in broad daylight
in a graveyard, and others lying wall-to-
wall in rooms in a mosque in Daraya.
The Local Coordination Committees, a
network of activists on the ground,
described it as a "massacre" by Assad's
regime and said many victims had been
summarily executed and their bodies
burnt.
"The shabiha (pro-regime) militias... have
been transformed into a killing machine
that threatens the Syrian people and our
future," it said.
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Human rights groups have accused the
regime of committing many atrocities in
its attempts to crush the uprising, and a
UN panel said earlier this month it was
guilty of crimes against humanity.
"Bodies were found in fields, basements
and shelters and in the streets,"
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman
said.
He said 200 bodies had been identified so
far, including 15 women and 14 children,
and that many of the victims had died in
shelling or were summarily executed.
In the first reaction by a world power,
Britain said that if confirmed, the Daraya
massacre "would be an atrocity on a new
scale."
Activists issued graphic videos of the
scenes in Daraya, one showing dozens of
bodies in dimly lit rooms, with a
commentary referring to "an odious
massacre committed by the gangs of the
Assad regime in the Abu Sleiman Addarani
Mosque."
In another LCC video, Daraya's dead,
among them at least two children, were
shown being prepared for burial, their
bodies lying in a hastily dug trench
covered with blankets and strewn with
palm fronds.
State media said Daraya, a conservative
Sunni Muslim town of some 200,000
people, was "purified of terrorist
remnants."
Pro-government television Al-Dunia said
"terrorists" carried out the attacks, as it
interviewed residents including
traumatised children and showed a
number of bloodied bodies lying in the
streets.
"Our valiant armed forces cleared Daraya
of the remnants of armed terrorist groups
which committed crimes that traumatised
the citizens of the town and destroyed
public and private property," government
newspaper Ath-Thawra said.
Meanwhile, the head of the Iranian
parliament's foreign policy committee,
Aladin Borujerdi, vowed that Tehran will
"stick by our Syrian brothers."
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"We see Syria's security as our security,"
he said in Damascus, where he met both
Assad and Vice President Faruq al-Shara,
Iran's state-owned IRNA news agency said.
Shara -- the regime's top Sunni Muslim
official -- made his first public appearance
in over a month when he was seen
walking and talking with Borujerdi,
following opposition claims he had tried to
defect and was under house arrest.
Borujerdi also said that Assad had told him
that Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi
and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem
would attend the August 30-31 Non-
Aligned summit which Tehran is hosting.
Iran is a staunch ally of Assad's regime but
is being excluded from most international
efforts aimed at ending the conflict in
Syria.
Assad, in his talks with the visiting Iranian
official, said Syria is continuing "its
strategy of resistance."
"What is happening now is not only
directed at Syria but the whole region.
Because Syria is the cornerstone, foreign
powers are targeting it so their conspiracy
succeeds across the entire region."
Assad has long characterised the brutal
conflict as a fight against foreign
"terrorists" aided by the West and Syria's
Sunni Muslim foes in the region, including
Saudi Arabia.
Tehran has said it will submit a plan for
ending the conflict to the Non-Aligned
Movement summit.
The Iranian initiative comes as its foes in
the West ramp up the pressure on
Damascus, with Washington and London
threatening action if it uses its chemical
weapons and Paris voicing support for a
partial no-fly zone.
The Observatory also reported shelling or
air strikes in other parts of the country on
Sunday including the battered northern
city of Aleppo and Daraa in the far south,
the cradle of the anti-Assad uprising.
The Britain-based Observatory reported a
total of at least 91 people killed
countrywide on Sunday -- 61 civilians, 13
rebels and 17 loyalist soldiers.
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August is already the deadliest single
month of the conflict with at least 4,000
people killed, according to the
Observatory, while around 25,000 have
died since March 2011. The United
Nations puts the death toll at more than
17,000.
http://www.middle-east-
online.com/english/?id=54046
Syrian VP’s appearance in public ends defection rumours
Vice President Faruq al-Shara makes his
first public appearance in over one month
on, following rumours that he had tried to
defect.
DAMASCUS - Syrian Vice President Faruq
al-Shara made his first public appearance
in over a month on Sunday, a journalist
said, following rumours that he had tried
to defect.
Shara, who was expected to meet the
visiting head of the Iranian parliament's
foreign policy committee, Aladin
Borujerdi, was last seen in public at a state
funeral for top security officials who were
killed in a bomb blast on July 18.
Speculation has swirled since last week
over the fate of Shara, the highest-ranking
Sunni Muslim official in President Bashar
al-Assad's minority Alawite-led regime,
since the opposition claimed he had tried
to defect.
Assad's regime has been rattled by several
high-profile defections as the Syrian
conflict has escalated, including former
Prime Minister Riad Hijab and prominent
General Manaf Tlass, one of Assad's
childhood friends.
Syria's state news agency SANA said on
Saturday that a fake email had been sent
out in its name claiming that the vice
president had been sacked, adding that
the "information is completely wrong."
After the opposition claims, state
television on August 19 quoted a
statement from Shara's office saying that
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"Mr Shara has never thought about
leaving the country or going anywhere."
A former minister who defected this year
also said earlier this month that it was
"well-known" that Shara had tried to leave
the country and was under house arrest.
Syria was also forced to deny that Foreign
Minister Walid Muallem had announced
on Twitter he had replaced Shara, with
SANA saying this month that the
information was "wrong" and that
Muallem did not have a Twitter account.
Shara, 73, has served in senior posts for
almost 30 years under both Assad and his
father and predecessor Hafez al-Assad.
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More bodies found in Syria “massacre” site, watchdog says
At least 14 more bodies have been found
in the town of Daraya near Damascus
after activists reported a gruesome
"massacre" there in a five-day assault by
regime forces, a watchdog said on
Monday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
had reported on Sunday the discovery of
320 bodies in Daraya after what
opposition militants said was a brutal
onslaught of shelling, summary executions
and house-to-house raids by government
troops.
The Observatory said another 14 bodies
had been found on Sunday, and that it had
so far identified 220 of the dead.
The Local Coordination Committees – a
network of activists on the ground –
described the killings as a "massacre" by
the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
The Britain-based Observatory said at
least 149 people were killed across the
strife-torn country on Sunday, among
them 105 civilians, 26 rebel fighters and
18 soldiers.
Regime forces shelled Basra al-Sham in
the province of Daraa, cradle of the 17-
month uprising, killing at least 17 civilians
on Sunday, it said.
"Among them were women and children,"
said the Observatory, which has a network
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of sources on the ground including
doctors and activists.
New shelling on Monday killed three men,
three children and two women in Kafr
Batna in the province of Damascus, the
Observatory added.
Around 25,000 people – most of them
civilians – have been killed in Syria since
the outbreak of a revolt in March last year
turned into a bloody insurgency after the
regime launched a massive crackdown on
dissent, according to Observatory figures.
It is impossible to independently verify
death tolls reported in Syria because of
severe restrictions on media operating
there.
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Syria top officials to attend NAM summit in Iran
Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi and
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem will
attend the August 30-31 Non-Aligned
summit in Tehran, a top Iranian official
announced in Damascus on Sunday.
Aladin Borujerdi, the head of the Iranian
parliament's foreign policy committee, on
a visit to Damascus, said that Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad informed him at
a meeting that Halqi and Muallem would
attend the NAM summit.
Halqi was appointed on August 9 as prime
minister after his predecessor Riad Hijab
defected.
Iran is a staunch ally of Assad's regime but
is being excluded from most international
efforts aimed at ending the conflict in
Syria.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon is attending the
NAM summit despite reservations from
the United States and Israel, along with 36
other heads of state or governments and
40 ministers or senior officials.
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7. ARABIAN PENINSULA AND THE GULF OF BASRA
Bahrain Shiites respond to talks offer with petrol bombs
Sayfa 61
Large crowd attacks police station outside
Bahraini capital with petrol bombs as
sporadic protests intensify in Sunni-ruled
Gulf state.
DUBAI - A large crowd attacked a police
station outside the Bahraini capital with
petrol bombs, police said late Saturday, as
sporadic protests intensify in the Sunni-
ruled Shiite-majority Gulf state.
"Some 150 people attacked with Molotov
cocktails" in the Shiite village of Sitra,
provincial police said in a statement
carried by the official BNA news agency.
Security forces "managed to repel the
attack by a group of terrorists," and
arrested the driver of a car "carrying a
large number of petrol bombs ready for
use," the police statement said.
One police officer was lightly injured in
the attack, it said, adding that security
forces were searching for the culprits.
It was not immediately clear if the attack
on the police station followed an anti-
government demonstration in Sitra, a
common occurrence in Shiite villages since
the Al-Khalifa ruling family bloodily
crushed Shiite-led pro-democracy protests
in March last year.
Shi'ite-led unrest has persisted since a
period of martial law last year that put
down the uprising. The two sides accuse
each other of responsibility for almost
daily street violence.
Opposition parties led by the Shiite group
Wefaq are demanding full powers for the
elected parliament to legislate and form
governments. Many Shiites complain of
political and economic marginalisation, a
charge the government denies.
Bahraini opposition refuses any
reconciliation attempts or dialogue offers
made by the authorities.
Justice Minister, Sheikh Khaled bin Ali al-
Khalifa, held talks earlier in August with
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representatives of political associations
during which he "stressed the national
responsibility of all parties to renounce
violence."
In response to the unrest, the Al Khalifas
have increased parliament's powers of
scrutiny over ministers and say policing is
being revamped to conform with
international standards.
Bahrain has been caught in a regional
competition for dominance between Iran
and U.S.-backed Saudi Arabia. Riyadh sent
troops to shore up the Bahrain
government last year, and Iran has
championed the opposition cause while
denying accusations it is orchestrating the
unrest.
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Saudi authorities foil 'terror' plot: Two extremist cells busted
Interior ministry says suspects are ‘in
contact with the deviant organisation
abroad’, term usually used to refer to
Qaeda.
RIYADH - Saudi authorities announced on
Sunday they had foiled a "terror" plot by
elements suspected of links to Al-Qaeda,
mostly Yemenis, and busted two extremist
cells in Riyadh and Jeddah.
The interior ministry said in a statement
the suspects were "in contact with the
deviant organisation abroad," a term
usually used to refer to Al-Qaeda jihadist
network.
The suspects were working on "recruiting
elements to execute criminal attacks
targeting security forces, citizens and
foreign residents, as well as public
installations," it said in a statement carried
by the official SPA news agency.
The ministry said two Saudis and six
Yemenis were arrested, and it also named
two nationals as wanted for questioning.
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"Investigations revealed that those
elements were at an advanced stage...
including preparing explosives and testing
them outside Riyadh," the ministry said,
adding that one suspect accidentally lost a
finger during the tests.
The first Saudi suspect turned out to be
the head of the cell in Riyadh, and he gave
"detailed information" that led to the
arrest of the six Yemenis, who also
confessed to taking part in the plot, it said.
Police found "chemicals used for
explosives as well as mobile phones wired
to detonate explosive devices remotely,"
at an annex of a mosque in the capital, the
ministry said.
Investigations also led to a link with the
other cell in the western city of Jeddah,
the kingdom's second largest city.
The ministry said that a Saudi member of
that cell "who worked on preparing
explosive chemicals" was arrested.
Saudi Arabia witnessed a wave of deadly
attacks by Al-Qaeda between 2003 and
2006, which prompted the authorities to
launch a crackdown on the local branch of
the group founded by slain Saudi-born
Osama bin Laden.
http://www.middle-east-
online.com/english/?id=54044
Concern as UAE “halts” Bangladesh recruitment
The United Arab Emirates has stopped
issuing visas to workers from Bangladesh,
recruiting companies said Monday, in a
move that threatens to strangle vital
remittances for the impoverished South
Asian country.
The UAE has emerged as the biggest
recruiter of Bangladeshi laborers in recent
years, accounting for about 50 percent of
all overseas employment opportunities
after jobs dwindled in Saudi Arabia.
"Since last week we haven't had any
working visas issued from the UAE," said
Shahjalal Majumdar, president of the
Bangladesh Association of International
Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA).
There has been no official confirmation
from the UAE, but Bangladesh's Overseas
Employment Minister Khandker
Mosharraf Hossain told reporters Sunday
Sayfa 64
that the UAE government had "scaled
down" manpower imports from several
nations.
Money sent by Bangladesh's more than
eight million migrants has been the key
driver of its economy ever since the
country started sending workers to oil-rich
Middle Eastern nations in 1976.
Migrant workers sent home a record
$12.85 billion in the fiscal year ended in
June this year, accounting for 12 percent
of Bangladesh's gross domestic product,
according to official figures.
"We warned the government that too
much dependence on a single market
could be a big source of vulnerability,"
said Tasneem Siddiqui, who heads local
think-tank the Refugee and Migratory
Movements Research Unit.
"Now that they have stopped recruiting
from us it would be disastrous for our
economy unless we can find alternative
markets as quickly as possible," she told
AFP.
The numbers of Bangladeshis heading to
Saudi Arabia slowed sharply after 2009
when the kingdom hired only 14,666
Bangladeshis compared with 258,348 by
the UAE, according to government figures.
Saudi officials never explained the reasons
but local media alleged that growing
replacement of migrant workers with
Saudi citizens and souring diplomatic ties
with the country's secular government
played key roles.
Migration from Bangladesh fell sharply
during the 2008-9 global economic
downturn as jobs dried up in the Gulf
nations and export-oriented Southeast
Asia.
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Saudi oil giant fixes network after cyber-attack
Oil giant Saudi Aramco said on Monday it
has restored its main internal network
after a cyber-attack nearly two weeks ago
which failed to impact its oil production.
The company "restored all its main
internal network services that were
impacted on August 15, 2012, by a
malicious virus that originated from
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external sources," said a statement on its
website.
The world's largest oil company said the
attack affected about 30,000
workstations, but they have since been
cleaned and restored to service, while
remote Internet access to online
resources was restricted "as a
precaution."
The state-owned group which runs all
Saudi Arabia's oil production said that
"hydrocarbon exploration and production
were unaffected as they operate on
isolated network systems."
It said production plants also remained
"fully operational" thanks to isolated
control systems.
Saudi Aramco president and CEO Khalid al-
Falih said "this was not the first nor will it
be the last illegal attempt to intrude into
our systems," pledging to further reinforce
against possible future cyber-attacks.
Saudi Arabia in March became the world's
largest oil producer after increasing its
production to 9.923 million barrels per
day, topping Russia's output of 9.920
million.
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Saudi foils “terror” plot, busts two cells
Saudi authorities announced on Sunday
they had foiled a "terror" plot by elements
suspected of links to Al-Qaeda, mostly
Yemenis, and busted two extremist cells in
Riyadh and Jeddah.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement
the suspects were "in contact with the
deviant organization abroad," a term
usually used to refer to the Al-Qaeda
jihadist network.
The suspects were working on "recruiting
elements to execute criminal attacks
targeting security forces, citizens and
foreign residents, as well as public
installations," it said in a statement carried
by the official SPA news agency.
The ministry said two Saudis and six
Yemenis were arrested, and it also named
two nationals as wanted for questioning.
Sayfa 66
"Investigations revealed that those
elements were at an advanced stage...
including preparing explosives and testing
them outside Riyadh," the ministry said,
adding that one suspect accidentally lost a
finger during the tests.
The first Saudi suspect turned out to be
the head of the cell in Riyadh, and he gave
"detailed information" that led to the
arrest of the six Yemenis, who also
confessed to taking part in the plot, it said.
Police found "chemicals used for
explosives as well as mobile phones wired
to detonate explosive devices remotely,"
at an annex of a mosque in the capital, the
ministry said.
Investigations also led to a link with the
other cell in the western city of Jeddah,
the kingdom's second largest city.
The ministry said that a Saudi member of
that cell "who worked on preparing
explosive chemicals" was arrested.
If any of those plots had succeeded, it
would have been the first since the suicide
bombing against assistant Defense
Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in
August 2009.
The prince suffered only superficial
injuries after the bomber got close to him
and detonated his explosives.
Saudi Arabia witnessed a wave of deadly
attacks by Al-Qaeda between 2003 and
2006, which prompted the authorities to
launch a crackdown on the local branch of
the group founded by slain Saudi-born
Osama bin Laden.
Following the crackdown, Saudi Al-Qaeda
militants fled to neighboring Yemen,
joining ranks with their comrades there
under the banner of Al-Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula, taking advantage of
Sanaa's state's loose grip on power.
Saudi Arabia is a key US ally in the war
against Al-Qaeda.
http://www.nowlebanon.com/Sub.aspx?I
D=125478
8. AFGHANISTAN - PAKISTAN
US-led tanker attacked in Northern Afghanistan
Sayfa 67
Press TV
August 26, 2012
A convoy of tankers carrying fuel for the
US-led foreign forces has been attacked in
Afghanistan’s northern province of
Baghlan, Press TV reports.
According to local officials, the incident
took place on Sunday and led to the
destruction of one US-led NATO tanker.
Meanwhile, the opposition party led by
the former Afghan Prime Minister
Golbodin Hekmatyar, which has claimed
responsibility for the attack, says six
tankers were destroyed.
The attack comes two days after another
convoy of trucks carrying supplies to US-
led NATO forces in Afghanistan came
under a fiery attack in the country’s
western province of Farah.
Militants ambushed the convoy on
Thursday and set fire to at least 12
vehicles. Three Afghan security guards,
who were escorting the trucks, were killed
in the attack.
The United States and its allies invaded
Afghanistan in 2001 as part of
Washington’s so-called war on terror.
The offensive removed the Taliban from
power, but years into the invasion,
insecurity continues to rise across the
country despite the presence of
thousands of foreign troops in the war-
weary nation.
http://www.aopnews.com/today.html
Afghan lawmakers urge an end to US assassination drone strikes
Press TV
August 26, 2012
Afghan lawmakers have urged the
government of President Hamid Karzai to
put an end to the United States
assassination drone strikes against the
Afghan civilians, Press TV reports.
Local sources told Press TV’s
correspondent in Afghanistan that the
MPs, infuriated by the strikes, strongly
urged President Karzai to hold a ‘Loya
Jirga’ or ‘Grand Assembly’ in order to
discuss the issue and find an effective
Sayfa 68
solution to stop the occupying forces’
assaults against civilians.
“I want the parliament and the President
himself to launch an emergency meeting
to discuss the escalation of security
problems in the country,” Mohammad
Sharif Balkhabi, a member of parliament
from Sar-e-Pul District was quoted as
saying.
Another Afghan MP, Munawar Shah
Bahaduri representing the western
province of Herat noted, “Who will take
responsibility for the bloodshed in
Afghanistan? Why are we, the parliament
and the government careless?”
Angry with the inaction of the
government, Bahaduri added, “We must
find a final solution for these issues
through a Loya Jirga. The government
holds Loya Jirgas for its personal benefits
but when national interests are raised, it
keeps quiet.”
The aerial attacks were initiated by former
US President George W. Bush but have
been escalated under current President
Barack Obama.
The US military has also used terror
drones in Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Libya,
and Iraq.
Though Washington claims that its drone
strikes target militants, local sources say
that civilians have been the main victims
of the attacks. The UN has called the US
drone attacks targeted killings that flout
international law.
The Afghan lawmakers also expressed
their grave concerns over the latest
intensification of militancy in the country
which has so far led to even more loss of
lives.
The MP’s argue that a large number of
people are getting killed on a daily basis
by the Taliban militants in spite of the
heavy presence of more than 130,000 US-
led occupying forces who justify their
occupation of the country by the so-called
‘war on terror’ slogan.
http://www.aopnews.com/today.html
Afghan political leaders stres transparency in elections process
UNAMA
Sayfa 69
26 August 2012 – Afghan parliamentarians
and political party leaders, who met in
Kabul today to discuss the challenges
faced by the Afghan parliament, stressed
transparency in the elections process for
strengthening democracy and preventing
any political crisis.
Speaking at a meeting organized by the
Free and Fair Election Foundation of
Afghanistan Organization (FEFA), which is
the largest election observer group in the
country, the speakers also called for a
“stronger political opposition” in the
Afghan parliament.
They also said the parliament lacks a
standard mechanism to monitor
performance of the Government.
A member of the National Coalition,
Mahmood Saiqal, said a "stronger
legitimate political opposition” in the
Afghan parliament is needed to better
monitor the Government performance.
The Coalition makes the largest political
opposition in Afghanistan.
While emphasizing transparency in
elections processes, Mr Saiqal said, “There
is need for a nationwide public
mobilization campaigns to acquaint
people about the elections process and
the importance of their active
participation for effective
institutionalization of democracy.”
FEFA Director Jandad Spinghar said the
civil society wants to help the Afghan
parliament carry out its fundamental duty
to monitor the performance of the
Government by collecting comments and
suggestions of political parties and civil
society organizations.
A Member of Parliament, Sayed Alimi
Balkhi, said the parliament lacks a process
to document corruption cases of
Government authorities and the
monitoring so far has been carried out on
based on rumours and gossips.
“Since we don’t have documented
evidence, we can’t hold the authorities in
question accountable,” said Mr Balkhi,
adding that ethnic and regional biases are
hampering the monitoring role of the
Afghan parliament.
Speaking on the occasion, a
representative of the Rights and Justice
Party called for increased support of the
Sayfa 70
civil society to political parties and vice
versa to better advocate along with
parliamentarians for better monitoring
and promoting accountability.
Representatives of some other political
parties demanded an election system
based on political parties for better
accountability and performance
monitoring.
FEFA is organizing another similar
discussion on Wednesday to discuss the
issues relating to the elections in
Afghanistan.
http://www.aopnews.com/today.html
US, allies play dirty tricks to avoid defeat in Afghan war: Analyst
Press TV
August 26, 2012
The US military has been conducting
cyber-attacks against its perceived
opponents in Afghanistan, according to
one of its generals.
Marine Corps Lieutenant General Richard
Mills made the unusually explicit
acknowledgment at a conference in
Baltimore last week, The Associated Press
reported on Friday.
At the conference, he explained how US
commanders regard cyber weapons as an
important part of their arsenal.
Mills was in command of US-led foreign
forces in southwestern Afghanistan
between 2010 and 2011.
There’s been no immediate comment so
far from the Pentagon on Mills' speech.
The US has been accused of conducting
cyber warfare in many countries in the
Middle East and North Africa.
Press TV has conducted an interview with
Richard Becker, from the A.N.S.W.E.R
Coalition, to further discuss the issue.
What follows is an approximate transcript
of the interview.
Press TV: How can “hacking” become a
legitimate warfare tactic for the Pentagon
in your opinion?
Becker: Well I think that if we look at the
war in Afghanistan the United States and
its allies are definitely not winning. In fact
Sayfa 71
that is clear that they are losing the war
and that their strategy that they have
designed to Afghanize the war so to speak
that is to put the Afghan army and
national police in their role as time passes
is failing and we see the number of what
are called ‘green and blue’ attacks
escalating very, very sharply.
So they are going to try every means of
warfare that they have at their disposal to
try to prevent a defeat in Afghanistan
which they see as endangering the empire
as a whole.
And of course at the same time we see the
cyber warfare attacks going on, other
illegal attacks going on against Iran in
particular. This is certainly a violation of
US law and international law as the
attacks that are going on, cyber attacks
and other attacks that are going on and
the occupation of Afghanistan which very
soon will reach its 11th year.
Press TV: Now another thing that is
important is misinformation seems to be
another tactic being used by the Pentagon
Cyber command particularly in
Afghanistan. Why has it become a viable
tactic for the US?
Becker: Well I think it is very difficult for us
to know that, I mean it is difficult to know
as you say, whether or not you suggested
that whether the information, when they
release this information that the purpose
of it is psychological warfare, what is really
going on is very hard for us to tell from the
outside but we know for certain that the
intention of United States and its reached
agreement with the Karzai government
made this very clear to stay in Afghanistan
not till 2014 but for another 12 years to at
least 2024.
And so they are using every tactic that
they can, every tactic that they can
imagine to make it possible for them to
hold on to Afghanistan and to prevent
defeat in this war that is going to end up
for so many years.
Press TV: Now there is another aspect that
comes to mind is quite important. We
sometimes come across some fake
personalities who actually do not exist at
all-- one of them could be “ Zabihullah
Mujahid” a so-called spokesman for the
Taliban in Afghanistan. There could be
more of these fake personalities. What is
Sayfa 72
your take on these personal
characteristics?
Becker: Well again this is something that
we have to be constantly suspicious of, we
have to be constantly suspicious of all of
the reports that come from the US
government. They have to be sorted
through very carefully and with an
examinee eye because the level of
disinformation that is coming out is so
high.
I mean when we see what is going on right
now with Bradley Manning the soldier
who is taking life imprisonment for the
WikiLeaks releases and Julian Assange, we
know that what the US government is
trying to do and the Pentagon is trying to
do is hide the real story not from the
people who are the recipients of this
violence, the direct recipients in
Afghanistan or in Iraq or anywhere else
but they are trying to hide it from the
people of the United States and instead to
present to the people of the United States
of false explanation, of false rendition of
what is taking place inside these
warzones.
http://www.aopnews.com/today.html
*This media summary is prepared by ORSAM
Middle East Research Assistants Nebahat
Tanrıverdi O. It covers news and
commentaries as reported by the national
media sources publishing in the Middle
Eastern countries. The views expressed are not
those of ORSAM and their inclusion does not
imply factual accuracy.
*Bu bülten ORSAM Ortadoğu Uzman
Yardımcıları Nebahat Tanrıverdi O tarafından
hazırlanmaktadır. Bülten Ortadoğu ülkelerinin
yerel haber kaynaklarından derlenmektedir.
Belirtilen görüşler bölge ülkelerinin haber
kaynaklarına ve ismi geçen yazarlara ait olup
ORSAM’ın görüşünü yansıtmamaktadır.